Veritas, Necne?
by Sanctuary4All
Summary: Helen Magnus awakens to find a different world than that she remembers, but is this world or her memories real?
1. Prologue: Awakening

Story Notes:

***I DO NOT OWN SANCTUARY***

Author's Chapter Notes:

_My first attempt at fanfiction, I apologize if it sucks._

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The first thing she noticed was that her head hurt, a dull ache resonated in her skull and she hadn't the slightest clue why. It didn't feel like a headache, more like she'd received a blow to the head although she couldn't recall what had happened. Helen was surprised that she was comfortable, her head was resting on a soft pillow and she was snuggled warmly in blankets. Flicking open her eyes she was greeted by the hazy outline of her bedroom which was a relief to find, she'd been half expecting to find herself in the middle of a rainforest or a cave or something.

"You're awake?" questioned a voice and she blinked a few times for the blurry image of a figure to come into view, "that's a relief."

She scowled not recognizing the man, he was young in his late teens or early twenties if she had to guess. He was lean with brown hair framing his fatigued face, the poor boy looked exhausted which dulled the brilliant blue of his eyes. He did remind her of someone but she couldn't quite place him, he looked concerned for her and held Henry's tablet computer.

"What happened?" Helen wondered aloud wincing as she sat up and pressed a hand to her bandaged head.

"The creature's tail caught you as you fired the net," the stranger explained, "don't worry though it's fine, he's sleeping off the voltage and should up tomorrow I think. How's your head?"

"It hurts but I'll live," she muttered.

"I did my best to bandage it," he offered biting his lip nervously, "do you need an aspirin?"

"No I'm fine thank you," Helen stated firmly frowning at the boy as she gave up on placing his face, "I'm sorry, who are you?"

"I'm Nick," the stranger answered looking shocked, "I'm your son, don't you recognize me?"


	2. Future

"What?" Helen gasped gaping at him in shock.

"I guess you hit your head harder than I thought," Nick muttered scowling, "the big guy said you should be fine."

"You know him?" Helen wondered studying her supposed son for any signs he was lying, she didn't know whether it was a good thing or a bad thing he sounded honest but she was stumped at how she could have another child, after Ashley...

"Of course," Nick stated as if it were obvious, "I grew up here, I've known him all my life. At least you remember somebody, you know your name right? You don't have total amnesia?"

"My name is Helen Magnus," she confirmed and he looked slightly relieved, "assuming you're telling the truth, then it is likely I may have retrograde amnesia."

"Assuming I'm telling the truth?" Nick repeated looking slightly hurt.

"It's not every day I wake up discovering I have a son," Helen explained still trying to grasp if any of this was possible, "what year is it?"

"2032," Nick offered, "what year do you think it is?"

"2011," Helen replied, realizing it was possible she had had another child within that time frame, "how old are you?"

"17," Nick answered rubbing his eyes tiredly, "so how do we get your memory back?"

"It's not like switching on a light," Helen informed him, "the memories may come back in pieces or all at once or I maybe I'll never remember the past 21 years of my life."

"Isn't there some kind of secret... memory recalling abnormal?" he asked with a half hearted hope.

"No," Helen laughed and even Nick smiled slightly before looking saddened.

"You should rest," he explained, "I have work to do."

"You should rest," she retorted, "you look exhausted, can't someone else do your job?"

"I always look exhausted," Nick informed her wistfully and rubbed his eyes again, "and no."

"What about Will?" she offered and instantly regretted it seeing the flash of pain in Nick's eyes.

"He died Mom," Nick whispered quietly, "he died a long time ago, along with... maybe its a good thing you've forgotten, you're life was so much better 21 years ago."

She tried to think of a reply as she exchanged a long sorrowful look with her son but couldn't think of one, suddenly afraid of asking after the others. He left before she could bring up the courage to ask how it had happened, much to her annoyance, leaving her alone with an aching head and a thousand unanswered questions.

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Chapter End Notes:

_I am sorry for killing Will by the way, please don't hate me _


	3. Others

_By the way does anyone want to know what "Veritas, Necne?" means?_

_ Also many thanks to athannah and A. for reviewing :)  
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Helen opted to just sit quietly by herself for awhile, it was alot to take in that she had forgotten the past 21 years of her life and the fact that Will had apparently died. He had been a good protege, a good friend to her and it bothered her she couldn't remember his death. Her stomach was clenched in knots wondering what had become of Kate and Henry, she regretted not asking Nick as well as turning down that aspirin.

She wasn't quite sure what to make of him, he seemed nice enough if slightly troubled but it was weird for her to suddenly have another child, its not something she'd ever considered after losing Ashley. The fact that Nick existed also presented the intriguing question of his parentage, who was his father? Was it John? If yes then she wondered if he'd been cured of the electro being, and if no then who else?

She scanned her surroundings for any sign of a man sharing her room but saw nothing, it looked basically the same as it had for the past centuary. Helen sighed frustratedly and snuggled into her bed trying to get comfy and rest but failed miserably.

Giving up she clambered out of bed and stretched before moving to get some clothes, no sign of any male clothes which probably meant Nick's father and her were not together anymore. Sighing again frustrated at her memory loss she finished changing and glanced at herself in the mirror, she looked almost exactly the same as had 21 years ago so her longevity had yet to fail her and studying the bandage she noted Nick had done a good job.

Helen moved away from the mirror as her attention was grabbed by the photographs, some were the same but some were new and others were gone. She saw no pictures of Ashley, she'd had a lovely one of her as a teenager sitting under a willow tree which was replaced by one of a little girl. At first she thought it was Nick but it wasn't although she looked alot like him, the girl was about 4 years old in the picture and she was smiling happily, it reminded her so much of someone but she couldn't quite place it.

Scowling in confusion she replaced the picture and came across another one with the little girl, it was at a birthday party with a huge chocolate cake in the centre with "Happy 5th Birthday!" scrawled on it white lettering, beside it was the girl and Nick, they were twins. Her frown deepened as she studied the photo, she was in the picture behind the twins as were Will, Henry and the Big Guy, all with silly grins plastered on their faces and those rainbow colored party hats. It saddened her to see such a happy scene which she didn't remember and Will being there considering he had aparently died... She also wondered why Nick hadn't mentioned his twin sister.

She heard the door and looked up to see the Big Guy entering with a tray of food, a relieved smile formed on her face, it was nice to see someone she recognized even if he had a bit of gray in his hair.

"I brought you some food," he commented placing the tray on top of a nearby table and moving over to her.

"It's good to see you old friend," Helen greeted him happily and he smiled slightly before seeing the birthday photo she was holding, he took it from her and replaced it carefully, "I've lost some of my memory."

"I know," he grunted, "Nick told me."

"He told me about Will being dead," she whispered sadly, "how did...?"

"We should talk when you've recovered more," he stated bluntly.

"I'm fine," she said more forcefully than she intended, "apart from losing 21 years, I'm never going to remember if you avoid my questions."

"He died not long after that picture was taken," he told her hesitantly, "he was killed trying to save Nick and Patty."

"Patty... she's the little girl in the pictures? Nick's twin?" Helen guessed thinking it through logically.

"Yes."

"Where is she?" Helen asked curiously.

"Will couldn't save her, they both died," he informed her looking away, "it was a dark day."

"Nick never got over it, did he?" she questioned quietly glancing sadly at the picture of her dead daughter.

"None of us did," he answered equally quietly.

"What about Henry?" she blurted biting her lip, "is he...?"

"He's alive," the Big Guy stated but didn't look very pleased about it, "but he hasn't been the same since he took the surgery."

"The surgery to stop him from becoming HAP?" Helen repeated genuinely shocked when he nodded, "but I thought he changed his mind, he didn't take it."

"He did after Patty and Will died."

"Well what about Kate?" Helen wondered but her friend jut looked at her confused.

"Who's Kate?"


	4. Ashley

_"Veritas, Necne?" is Latin, meaning "true, or not?" which sounds so much cooler in Latin obviously_

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Helen could only stare at Biggie for a moment with a look of absolute confusion, by the look on his face she could tell he was being completely honest with not a glimmer of recognition on his face which was just bewildering. She could understand how a head injury could wipe out some of her memory but had no idea why her friend wouldn't remember Kate.

"Kate Freelander?" she gave him her last name but he still looked blank, "after the Cabal fell she started to work with us, you really don't remember her?"

"Helen..." he began looking at her worried, "that didn't happen. The Cabal didn't fall. There was no Kate."

"What?" Helen exclaimed actually feeling shaken as much by the fact that the Cabal were still active as the fact that what she remembered might not even be real, "John and Nikola didn't kill them after Ashley died?"

"None of that happened either," he answered looking as shocked as she felt.

Shaking her head in bewildermeant she turned away from Biggie trying to figure out what the hell was going on, pondering this a slight bubble of hope appeared in her mind. If none of that had happened did that mean Ashley was alive? She knew it was more likely that no one would remember her but she couldn't quell the hope she felt amongst all the confusion.

"Is Ashley still alive?" she asked as quietly as she could while still being heard.

"Yes."

Despite the seriousness of the situation Helen couldn't help the joy that flooded through her knowing that Ashley was alive, excitedly she spun back around to happily face her friend who greeted her with a less than enthusiastic expression.

"Well where is she?" Helen inquired failing to stop herself from smiling, "I need to see her."

"You don't remember," he stated sadly and her smile wavered slightly.

"But you said she was alive?"

"She is," he confirmed, "but she's... not sane anymore."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Helen snapped worriedly wondering if was what the Cabal had did to her.

"She takes after Druitt," he explained darkly, "she's the one who killed Will and Patty."

"W-What?" Helen choked on the word and her knees suddenly felt weak.

"She turned on us, she's a serial killer like Druitt was," he told her suddenly looking sympathetic, "I'm sorry."

"That doesn't make any sense," Helen gasped moving to sit on the bed before her legs gave way, "is it because of what the Cabal did to her?"

"The Cabal didn't do anything to her," he stated, "that's enough answers for one day. Eat. Rest. Feel better."

She was too stunned to argue with him she just sat staring blankly ahead as he left her alone to digest the news, there wasn't alot that truly surprised her anymore but this was one of them. She failed to understand how her precious Ashley could have suddenly snapped especially since John's darkness came from the energy elemental.

Helen had to conlude Ashley had either somehow got mixed up with her own energy elemental or John had somehow excorsized his and it had ended up in Ashley, assuming any of this was real. She quickly pinched her arm in a vain attempt to wake up, if this was a dream she definately wanted to wake up- she _needed _to wake up. Nothing happened.


	5. Old Friends

_I know Henry is OOC, its part of the story_

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Helen sat still for awhile trying to figure out how any of this was possible, whether or not her memories were real was another pressing question. Assuming this world was real she supposed it was possible the Cabal had done something to her but she was wary to believe what she was seeing recalling her encounter with the Guardian in King Pacal's tomb. Either way she wasn't sure of her next action or what explanation of events she prefered.

Ashley being alive was like a dream come true but considering the fact she was apparently evil now was worrying and then there was what she had heard about Will and Henry which upset her greatly and the fact no one remembered Kate was simply puzzling. Sighing her eyes fell on the tray of the food that had been prepared for her, reluctantly she pulled it to her and decided she might as well eat as starving would not help the situation any.

When she finished she replaced the tray and knowing sleep would be impossible, opted to explore the Santuary, see how much or how little it had changed in 21 years. The corridors remained the same, a fact she found expected and oddly comforting.

"Hey Magnus," a man greeted her brightly.

She had to stare at him for a moment before she realized she was facing Henry, he had changed alot in the 21 years. His once brown hair was now completely gray, his face lined plus he had gained alot of weight. Hel looked at her cheerfully but something was missing from his eyes that had once been there.

"Hello Henry," she returned his greeting with a nervous smile, "how are you?"

"Oh I'm good," he answered still smiling, "I just had pork chops for dinner and then I helped Nick and Biggie with the feeding and now I'm going to go watch TV. I like to watch TV."

"You do?" she wondered.

"Oh yeah!" he exclaimed happily, "it has all sorts. Sport and cartoons and movies and episodes of TV shows, way more interesting than all that boring stuff you and Nick do."

"Boring stuff?" she repeated as her smile faded away, "I thought you liked being our tech support guy."

"Oh no, no," he laughed shaking his head, "technology is awesome but way to confusing for me. I used to be good at it but not anymore, I like other stuff. Like the Adjuster! I have all of the movies on DVD."

"Well that's great Henry," she muttered looking away guiltily as it occured to her that as she'd performed the surgery she'd been the one to change him.

"I know it is Magnus," he agreed still with that seemingly permanent smile he now sported, "have fun walking around, I have to go now or I'll miss the next episode."

"Okay Henry," she whispered as he happily scuttled away.

Sadly she continued her walk feeling slightly saddened by the new Henry, the Big Guy had been right about him not being the same, and Will being dead and Kate being not remembered meant just the two of them. And Nick. It explained why he seemed to have so much responsibility for a 17 year old.

Helen moved thoughtfully through the Sanctuary, occasionally seeing residents some of whom she recognized and alot who she did not. She decided to go see if Sally was still there, considering the lifespan of the merpeople she should still be alive and any familiar face was welcome. She reached the floor only to stop in her tracks and gape at the scene before her, Nick conversing with James Watson via screen. She was both stunned and amazed by the seeming revival of her friend.

"The Cabal are definately planning something but-" Nick was saying looking concerned before he noticed her and his eyes darted in her direction, "Mom? You really need to be resting."

"I'm fine," she waved off his concern and smiled warmly up at her presumed dead friend, "a pleasure to see you James."

"Always a pleasure to see you Helen," James greeted her kindly.

"How did you manage to survive Bhalasaam?" she asked curiously, "its a miracle you're alive."

"Survive Bhalasaam?" he repeated looking confused, "its been more than a centuary since I've been there."

"None of that happened did it?" she muttered half to herself, realizing they'd probably draw a blank on the Lazarus virus too.

"None of what happened?" James asked looking at her worriedly.

"Never mind," she shook of his questions thinking it not worth explaining at the minute but she made a mental not to refrain from retrieveing the source blood at all costs.

"How's your head?" Nick inquired of her with an expression that looked so familiar yet she couldn't place it.

"Okay," she answered hurriedly deciding to ask him about the identity of his father, "hey Nick, who is your-"


	6. Meetings

_Yeah that was mean athannah, hehehehe. I apologize, here's the next chapter!  
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Much to Helen's irritation her question was interrupted by a cell phone ringing, it appeared to be a text which Nick read scowling as he did so.

"I have to go," Nick announced glancing at them both apologetically, "Julia says she might know something about the Cabal."

"Who's Julia?" Helen asked frowning as they seemed worried about some potenital Cabal plot, she wondered if it had anything to do with her memories.

"Squid's daughter," Nick offered, "they're abnormals who sometimes give us information about things, you do remember Squid right?"

"Yes of course," she affirmed nodding in agreement, "what are the Cabal doing?"

"That's what we need to know," James commented from the screen, "you really shouldn't be worrying about it with that head injury."

"Descrepencies in my memory doesn't make my mind any less sharp," Helen informed him feeling slighly annoyed by his behavior.

"Well I've got to meet Julia before she gets bored and bails," Nick interjected putting his cell back in his pocket, "we can talk later James and Mom, worry about getting your memory back not about the Cabal."

"I can do both," Helen offered gaining a slight smile from James.

"Do tell me what you find out," James said returning his attention to Nick who was turning to leave.

"Do you want it in writing or a telegram?" Nick retorted smirking to which James laughed, as if at some joke between them which was lost on her. Nick moved away before pausing with an afterthought to look back at her, "are you okay here by yourself Mom?"

"Yes," Helen confirmed rolling her eyes slightly at his concern but he seemed satisfied and continued walking away, "be careful."

Nick stopped in his tracks and turned to face her with a bemused look his face, "you really have no idea who I am, do you?"

Helen didn't know how to respond to his question, asked in a such an ominous way which she had not expected of him. He didn't seem to mind her lack of response and resumed his exit without another word.

"Nikola Gregory Magnus," James spoke and her attention was drawn back to the screen, "in case you didn't know what his name was."

"Magnus?" she repeated their apparent joint last name and wondered for Nikola's life since she had named her son after him.

"You were most insistant on the twins having your last name," James explained, "he had a twin sister, in case you didn't know."

"Patty," Helen recalled her name, "short for Patrica? Named after my mother?"

"Are you remembering that or deducing that?" James inquired thoughtfully and she was reminded of how much she had missed her friend.

"Deducing," Helen answered wondering whether she should tell him about the fact she remembered his death, "its logical that Patty is short for Patricia which was my mother's na-"

She stopped mid-sentance when the power for the Sanctuary seemed to die, darkness descended around her and James vanished from the screen replaced by a black abyss. Helen had to blink a few times for her eyes to adjust to the abruptness of the change in lighting, vaguely she hoped the emergency power was kicking in for the cells.

A flash of orange light appeared before her and even in the almost pitch blackness engulfing them she could make out Ashley standing in front of her, it was hard to tell but she looked slightly older and appeared to be clutching her arm with a pained expression on her face.

"Mom," Ashley's voice pleaded with her, seeming to confirm that her mind was not playing tricks on her. Helen found tears forming in her eyes as she heard her daughter's voice, "please help me."


	7. Injured

_Next chapter is up! For anyone who actually reads this story _

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"Ashley..." Helen muttered as words failed her, despite knowing that in this weird future her daughter was apparently evil she could not help feeling that bubble of joy that she was not dead.

"I know that I'm the last person in the world you want to see," Ashley explained taking a slight step towards her and instantly falling weakly to her knees clutching at her arm and side, which Helen realized was slick with blood, "but... I have nowhere else to go."

Not caring whether or not Ashley was a killer, Helen immediately knelt by her daughter's side and pressed her hands against the fresh wound. It was still bleeding, she felt the sticky liquid pouring from Ashley's side which she tried to put pressure on, not able to do much else considering she could barely see anything in the darkness.

"If I go to a hospital... he'll just find me... and kill me," Ashley continued fighting to get the words out, Helen realized she'd lose conciousness soon from lack of blood, "so if someone's going to kill me... I'd rather it be you."

"Who did this to you?" Helen asked numbly.

"Who do you think?" Ashley barked back before softening her tone, "I'm sorry Mom..." the words slurred and trailed off as she succumbed to unconciousness.

Forcing away the slight jolt of panic that she might have to watch her daughter die, again, Helen lay Ashley gently onto the ground and tried to inspect the injury to her arm and side. They appeared to be clean cuts, made by a knife or possibly a claw, something sharp at any rate. Helen squinted through the darkness looking for anything she could use to stop the bleeding when the lights came back on as quickly as they had died they resurged and she had to blink at its abrupt return.

"Mom!" Nick yelled and she saw him running towards her, "are you alrigh- oh no."

He stopped instantly in his tracks when he noticed Ashley, he gazed at his sister aghast which seemed to lose focus as if he was remembering something.

"Nick!" Helen called and he seemed to snap out of it, still looking caught between terror and shock he grabbed her and pulled her away.

"Stay away from her," Nick whispered fearfully, "she'll kill you."

"She's not even concious!" Helen protested shaking free of his grip, "I need to get her to the infirmary, we need to stop the bleeding."

"No," Nick retorted, the badly masked fear in his voice making him suddenly sound so young, "she'll kill you."

"She'll die if we don't help her," Helen informed as firmly as she could manage, "you can either help or stand there but I am not going to let my daughter die."

For a second she didn't know whether he'd help her not, she just gazed into his sapphire eyes feeling slightly guilty at the pain immersed in their depth but he seemed to trust her and nodded.

"Okay," he agreed barely loud enough for her to hear, "I'll get her a stretcher."


	8. Talk

_Just out of curiosity, does anyone care who Nick's father is? _

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Helen sat beside Ashley's bed, gazing at her daughter with a mixture of amazement and aprehension. She had managed to stop the bleeding, her injuries were all bandaged and taken care of and now she just sat waiting for her to wake up and drinking in the site of her.

Ashley had aged but Helen assumed she had inherited her longevity in some way as her daughter didn't even look close to 47 years old, early thirties at the latest. The most noticibly different thing about her was the numerous scars she now sported, most noticibly three going down the left side of her face as if something's claws had slashed her, alot of the scars were like that.

Knowing of the fact Ashley was now supposably a killer, she had been handcuffed to the bed on Nick's insistance and the EM shield was up at full power. Nick she had finally convinced awhile ago to go to his meeting with Julia and was now alone in the infirmary with her daughter and her thoughts.

Worry was the most prominent emotion she was feeling despite the stiill defiant bubble of joy at Ashley's revivial and of James' but the Cabal being active bothered her and the fact her memories didn't match up with everyone else's was also most concerning add that to pretty much everything else she had discovered and she really wished she had taken up Nick's offer of an aspirin.

"Hey," Nick greeted her and she glanced up to see him returning, he slumped into a chair in the corner and rubbed his eyes again.

"You should sleep," Helen offered noting his tiredness.

"I'm fine," he announced sitting up stiffly but the fatigue on his face remained, "you're the one who's injured, you should rest."

"I'm fine," she answered firmly, "so how did it go with Julia?"

"I told you not to worry about it," Nick stated casting a nervous gaze to Ashley.

"Well I'm going to worry about it whether you tell me what happened or not," Helen explained truthfully, "you might as well tell me."

"Fine," Nick agreed hesitantly and breathed a long sigh, "she's dead. By the time I got there she'd been killed, presumably by the Cabal."

"Well that's bad," Helen mused thoughtfully to herself.

"Quite," Nick agreed leaning back in his chair, "how's Ashley?"

"She should recover," Helen informed him, "do you think the Cabal could have been the ones to attack her?"

"No," Nick scoffed, "its pretty obvious who attacked her."

"Not to me," Helen complained scowling slightly, "loss of memory, remember?"

"Sorry," Nick apologized looking slightly guilty, "I forget..."

"It's fine," Helen sighed.

"Ashley's... different than you remember her," Nick began glancing at his sister nervously, "she went insane like her father... Druitt? And she... she... killed... Will and... and..."

"Patty," she finished his sentance for him realizing this was a difficult subject for him, "the Big Guy told me about her and Will, that Ashley killed them. I just don't know who would have attacked her."

"It was my father," Nick answered finding his voice again as his eyes darted back to her, "he's been obsessed with killing her and avenging Patty's death since it happened."

"Your father?" she repeated hopefully wanting him to give her a name.

"He left," Nick explained solemnly, "you wanted to capture Ashley, figure out why... he just wanted to kill her. You fought about that. Alot... And then he left to go 'finish the job' and we haven't seen or heard from him since. Or from Ashley... Until now."

He paused in his speech and seemed to lose himself in memories again, staring ahead at Ashley but not really seeing. Helen waited a few seconds for him to continue and tell her who his father was but he didn't.

"Nick?" she questioned but he didn't seemed to hear her, "Nick!"

"She's waking up," Nick stated neutrally and she turned back to Ashley who was stirring.

"Ashley," Helen whispered her daughter's name excitedly as she flicked open her eyelids weakly.

"Mom?" she croaked sounding mildly surprised, "I didn't think I'd be alive right now."

"I didn't think we'd be alive right now," Nick countered darkly and Ashley's attention turned to him as she smiled slightly.

"Well look at you Nicky," she greeted him warmly, "all grown up."

"No one calls me Nicky anymore," he replied testily.

"Right," Ashley muttered as her smile faded, "its still good to see you."

"Don't try anything," Nick told her awkwardly, "the EM shield is up."

"I figured," Ashley said struggling to sit up, "that's why I knocked out the power before I teleported in here. Obviously."

"Obviously," Nick agreed shifting uncomfortably, "will you be okay here by yourself Mom? I should go and so something more useful."

"I'll be fine Nick," Helen affirmed as he rose to leave, "I'll be fine."


	9. Tea

_WOW! 4 reviews for one chapter! You guys are awesome :D Thank you so much trekie, CSIGurlie07, Adria626 and Goldthwaite. You will find out who Nick's father is. Eventually. Not a very eventful chapter I know I'm sorry _

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"Are handcuffs really necessary?" Ashley asked after Nick left, "if the EM shield's up its not like I can teleport away."

"Better safe than sorry I suppose," Helen answered lamely struggling to think of something to say, there had been so many things she wanted to say to her daughter but considering how nothing she remembered seemed to have actually happened she stayed silent.

"I promise I won't try to kill you," Ashley offered, "I know you won't believe me but since I got shocked last month I've felt... like myself again. Not that I expect you to believe me."

"I believe you," Helen confirmed feeling more sure that the energy elemental had somehow gotten into her and made her insane.

"Really?" Ashley muttered doubtfully, "its not that I'm not grateful for you saving my life and all but I just need to keep moving, or he'll find me."

"He'll find you," Helen repeated to herself wondering again who 'he' was.

"Yes," Ashley sighed, "are you even listening to me? Did that head injury affect your hearing?"

"No," Helen said with a half smile, "I'm just glad that your alive."

"Since when?" Ashley questioned bitterly.

"The head injury effected my memory," Helen decided to explain, "I don't remember anything from the last 21 years."

"Oh," Ashley muttered looking shocked, "so that's why you saved my life."

"You're my daughter," Helen stated firmly.

"Patty was your daughter too," Ashley retorted sadly averting her gaze, "my half sister... She was 5."

"You feel guilty?" Helen wondered aloud.

"I murdered my boyfriend and my baby sister," Ashley informed her bitterly, "what do you think?"

"Will was your boyfriend?" Helen said blinking with surprise.

"My fiance," Ashley corrected solemnly "I don't even know why... I did the things I did but... I don't know."

"I think I do," Helen offered hopefully, "I think the energy elemental inside John somehow transferred to you."

"What energy elemental?" Ashley questioned looking confused.

"Obviously that didn't happen either," Helen muttered to herself supressing a sigh.

"I think I'd remember encountering an energy elemental," Ashley scoffed, "maybe you should get James to have a look at your head cuz clearly you're not thinking straight."

"I brought tea," announced the Big Guy and both women turned towards the door to see him entering with the tray.

"Thanks Biggie," Ashley greeted him smiling warmly, his expression remained stoic but he grunted in awknowledgement as he poured the tea.

"Where'd Nick go?" he asked handing Helen her cup.

"I don't know," Helen shrugged sipping her tea, "thank you."


	10. Kate

_Wow really long chapter this! I thought since it was the 10th chapter then it should be long cuz orignally I was gonna cut it in half but I changed my mind. So yeah rambling but read on and enjoy! Hopefully _

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It was odd for Helen to be sitting drinking tea with her 'dead' daughter and Bigfoot, she had never thought that could ever happen again but there she was. Not that it was a particularly enjoyable moment, an awkward silence hung in the air in which her companions kept shifting uncomfortably and eyeing each other suspiciously. It saddened her that they were no longer at ease with each other but understandable if she took into account the past she couldn't remember.

"I should go and find Nick," the Big Guy offered after finishing his tea, "and you two should both rest."

"Okay," Ashley agreed readily handing him her empty teacup but guiltily refused to meet his gaze.

"We'll talk again tomorrow then," Helen stated firmly with a smile that felt forced as she followed Bigfoot out of the room, leaving Ashley to sleep.

"You're not to bed are you?" her friend commented deadpan.

"I'm afraid not," Helen affirmed his observation, "I have far too much on my mind."

"Like mother, like son," he muttered taking the empty cup from her, "what do you intend to do with Ashley? She cannot stay here."

"Why not?" Helen wondered.

"She could kill us all," Bigfoot explained.

"She won't," Helen snapped defending her daughter, "I believe that her... insanity came from the same or similar creature to the energy one that changed John and if I can find away to remove it then she should return to her usual self."

"Helen..." he began giving her a look of dubitation, "I don't recall an energy being inside of Druitt or Ashley, this is another 'Kate' thing. It didn't happen."

"Kate is real," Helen said firmly, "and so is the energy being... Is John...?"

"He died," Bigfoot answered giving her a slightly apologetic look, "20 years ago. He attacked Ashley, it was self-defense... She teleported his body here, he's buried in the garden."

Helen had been expecting the possibility that he might be dead but she still felt a pang of sadness for his loss, despite everything he had done he was still her very first love. She had actually been hoping to help him, when they were done with Hollow Earth she was sure between her and Nikola they could have figured out a way to exorcise the energy elemental.

She shook her head of such thoughts, regret was not useful especially when she had so much else to deal with. What he'd told her actually made sense, if the host was dead than the creature would have needed a new one and if Ashley teleported them all… then it was likely her daughter wasn't a monster.

"The energy being and Kate are real," Helen repeated forcefully.

"A magical energy being that no one noticed," Bigfoot stated returning to looking doubtful, "and a Cabal agent Kate Freelander. That name sounds made up."

"I know but its not," Helen told him feeling slightly annoyed by his lack of belief, although if their positions were reversed she'd probably be acting the same way he was, "I'll find her. Show you that there is some truth to my memories, there must be a reason they're different to actual events."

"Sleep on it," he offered skeptically, "and figure out what to do with Ashley, no one's safe while she's here. She could snap again and even if she doesn't, if he comes for her he might kill us for protecting her."

"Figure out what to do with her? She's not a wild animal," Helen complained put off by his tone, "why are you so cold to her of all people? You've known her since she was a baby, you delivered her."

"And because I hesitated to shoot her, Patty and Will died," he explained averting his gaze sorrowfully, "I failed them. I can't fail again."

"I'm sorry," Helen muttered as he shuffled away.

Helen sighed with a mixture of frustration and depression, half the people she knew were dead and the other half seemed so different, add that to the fact that her memories seemed false and her world seemed a lot more complicated and not in a particularly good way. She still wasn't quite sure what to make of everything but was determined to find out if anything she remembered did exist.

Her gaze wandered to a stray computer sitting unused a few feet away, she approached and after a second of deliberation began a search in the DMV database for 'Kate Freelander.' Biting her lip nervously she was rewarded by a '1 result found' which she immediately clicked on, to her amazement she found that Kate did exist; the same appearance, date of birth, family, criminal record that she had had before plus the extra 21 years of data. The only difference was that she hadn't come to work at the Sanctuary like in Helen's memories.

Helen quickly discovered her address and decided there was no harm in going to check it out. She left instantly before she could talk herself out of it, it was dark by now outside and it was raining heavily. The city had changed somewhat and it took her awhile to find her way to Kate's address but find it she did, a simple apartment near dead bridge.

She wrapped her coat around herself and headed towards the building, stopping abruptly when she saw Kate talking on her cell outside the building. Helen smiled despite herself, despite having aged 21 years she still instantly recognized her friend.

"Hey Kate!" she greeted her enthusiastically but was given a blank expression in return.

"I've gotta call you back," Kate hissed quickly into the cell before shoving it in her pocket and focusing her attention wholly on Helen, "do I know you?"

"It's me," Helen offered her smile falling hopelessly at the lack of recognition,

"Helen Magnus. We used to work together."

"Err… No we didn't," Kate replied scowling, "Wait, Magnus? From the Sanctuary?"

"Yes," Helen agreed enthusiastically praying she was remembering her.

"The Cabal will pay a helluva lot for your dead body," she smirked pulling a gun and pointing it squarely at her, "any last words?"


	11. The Sweepers

_Yeah sorry about the cliffhangers but I have to keep you guys interested :) Thank you so much for reviewing btw_

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"Kate..." Helen started in shock stuggling to believe her friend was about to shoot her, "we're friends, come on you don't want to kill me. You're not like that, you're a good person."

"Lady, you're craz-" Kate began to mock her but stopped abruptly and fell forwards onto the ground.

"Stun gun," Nick explained stepping from the shadows and kicking away Kate's weapon, "never leave home without it."

"Thank you," Helen offered entirely grateful, "how did you know where I was?"

"I'm not stupid," he announced approaching her, "when I saw the screen with Freelander's address on it and you missing... kinda obvious where you'd be."

"Apparently I've taught you well," she commented giving him a half hearted smile.

"You have," he affirmed returning her smile slightly, "now come on. We have to get back to the Sanctuary."

"Why?" she wondered noting the hurry in his tone.

"Because we're both breaking cufew," he explained, "part of Gideon's regime to put a stop to crime. You can't be out 10pm-5am weekdays or 12pm-5am weekends without a pass."

"And we don't have a pass?" she guessed.

"No," he confirmed her suspicions.

"What do they do if they catch you?" she asked curiously.

"Killed on site," he offered bleakly, "by the Sweepers."

"Of course," she muttered rubbing her head, "wait, what are 'Sweepers?'"

"Them," Nick said nodding to her left.

Seemingly in answer to her question four armed men quickly approached them, the one in the lead took out an odd looking device and pointed it at them. A blaze of blue light emitted from it and swept across them, vanishing the device beeped a few times.

"Neither of you two have a pass," the lead man drawled giving them an unsympathetic glare, "inkeeping with the new laws passed by President Gideon Whitcomb, you are now to be executed."

"Whitcomb?" Helen repeated as the Sweepers aimed their guns on them.

"Mom!" Nick yelped grabbing her and ducking behind a dumpster as the bullets fired, one of the catching his shoulder which made him wince painfully, "think later, run now."

"Your arm-" she began but he cut her off.

"Will be fine," he stated, "now concentrate, on the count of three we run to our right. Ready?"

"No."

"Three!" Nick yelled.

Not wasting anytime they darted to the right, Nick blasting the sweepers with the stun gun which didn't seem to hit any as they continued their mad dash into the next street. Nick pulled her through a doorway and immediately began doing something with the stun gun, although it was hard to make out what in the darkness.

"I assume you have a better plan than running into a vacant building," she asked him scanning the grafitied walls and filthy floor.

"Yep," he answered throwing down the stun gun, "follow me."

Wondering if he had lost his mind abandoning their only weapon, she reluctantly followed him through another door as the other burst open with the Sweepers. They bolted down the corridor regardless and Helen only glanced back once when an explosion of blue light appeared from whence they'd came, it didn't seem to have stopped the Sweepers however as they quickly ran after them.

They came to a halt as the corridor was a dead end, a bricked up black wall faced them. Nick seemed unfazed and simply led them into another room, which was also a dead end. They were trapped.

"Give up yet?" mocked the lead man as he and the others entered the room, "nice little trick with the stun gun, pity it didn't do anything."

"Didn't it?" Nick wondered slyly and she cast him a confused glance.

The lead Sweeper didn't seem to care and aimed his gun at Nick who simply smiled as the trigger was pulled, instead of bullets there was just a click. The man looked confused as did the other Sweepers who were experiencing the same problem.

"Clever," the man admitted throwing down the useless weapon, "but we don't need guns to take care of an injured woman and a kid."

Nick rolled his eyes before instantly launching a kick at the man which floored him faster than Helen thought possible, the others advanced on him and he elbowed one in the face with enough force to cause a crack. One man made a punch at him which Nick effortlessly dodged and grabbed his opponent's outstretched arm twisted it awkwardly making the man cry out in pain until it snapped. The final man was smart enough to come at Nick with a knife he had pulled from his boot, he made a jab at Nick who avoided the weapon and swept his foot at the man's ankles causing him to fall onto the ground. Nick stamped on the man's hand with enough force to break the fingers, which he did judging by the scream of pain, and took the blade from him.

Helen was both amazed and unnerved by how quickly and easily her son had taken down four adult men and with a wounded shoulder. He fought with inhuman agility and she wondered again to the identity of his father.

"We should go now," Nick announced turning to face her again without even a bead of sweat on his brow, "they will have called for others."

"Okay," she agreed nodding and followed him out.


	12. Nick

_Thank you so much to Akaylah for reviewing :) _

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She followed Nick back through the abandoned building immersed in her thoughts, this Gideon Whitcomb she was certain had some connection to Dana which meant that the Cabal were far more powerful in this place than in her memories and that worried her like crazy.

"We need to get back to the Sanctuary," Nick announced taking her back to reality, she saw her son in a whole new light that had nothing to do with the almost blackness of the building, "our best bet is to go into the sewers, I doubt the Sweepers will bother to look for us there."

"Whatever you say," she muttered as he retrieved the stun gun, "you know this world better than I do."

Nick nodded vaguely and led her out into the dimly lit street, the rain had stopped which was a mild positive to her and didn't actually matter considering they were going into the sewers. They stopped at a manhole which Nick effortlessly removed despite their heavyish weight, and wrinkled his nose at the smell.

"You're not human, are you?"Helen asked him to which he reluctantly met her gaze and hesitated before replying.

"No," he confirmed with an undertone of regret in his tone, "you go first."

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" she wondered turning her attention back to their situation, "its going to be pitch black down there and its easy to get lost."

"Mom," Nick began with a sigh, "I can basically see in the dark and I know the way back to the Sanctuary. I know this is weird for you but I am your son and you are going to have to trust me."

"I do trust you," she told him firmly surprised that she found it to be true.

Taking a deep breath she braced herself for the stink of the sewers and climbed down into the blackness, she reached the ground through an ankle deep layer of rainwater and moved aside for Nick to climb down too which he did after replacing the grate above him. With that little slice of light extinguished she was now engulfed by the dark and the overpowering stench hovering in the air, Nick took her hand in his and started leading them slowly.

"How's your shoulder?" Helen inquired after a minute as she recalled her had been injured.

"Fine," he answered swiftly.

"I should look at it, if the bullet is still embedded than it needs to be removed," she explained concerned for his health as being in a sewer was not the best environment to avoid infection.

"It'll heal," Nick stated shrugging off her worry, "I'll be fine."

"The chances of infection are high in a location like this," Helen pointed out.

"Really Mom, I'm fine," he answered tiredly, "and stop with the worrying, you're impeeding my senses."

"Impeeding your senses?" she repeated with a mix of curiosity and dubitaion.

"I have a limited telepathic ability," Nick informed her after a moment of hesitation, "my bond with Sally is how I know the way to the Sanctuary, the power is screwy and I suck at controlling it though. We're walking so slowly because I'm concentrating so hard and your worry is interfering, so stop."

"Fascinating," Helen mused surprised by this, "I hadn't realized you were a telepath."

"I'm not," he retorted defensively, "I can sense general emotions from people if they feel strongly enough or if I know them or if I have physical contact with them, I can tell when people are lying, I can shield my thoughts from telepaths and I can communicate telepathically with people like Sally or if I know them really well."

"Its still pretty amazing," she told him truthfully and wondered if he got it from his father, "does your father have this ability?"

"No," Nick scoffed, "he's an abnormal certainly and I've... inherited alot from him but not this. We always figured it was because I was a twin. Patty could do the same, we could do more together and we could control it properly... her death... her death changed everything."

"It must have hurt to lose her," Helen muttered half to herself hearing the badly masked pain in voice.

"Yes," he answered quietly, "more than you could possibly imagine."

"You think we should get rid of Ashley too?" she wondered.

"God no," he replied sounding almost offeneded, "there's been enough death... I'm not my father."

"Who is your father?" Helen demanded more than asked, frustrated and growing tired of not knowing is identity.


	13. Nick's Father

_Its finally arrived, the chapter when you find out Nick's father  
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"You don't know?" Nick wondered sounding amused.

"Lost my memory remember?" she pointed out.

"I figured the Big Guy or James had already told you," Nick explained in a mirthful tone, "or you'd have guessed it."

"Tell me," Helen commanded.

"Does it matter?" Nick asked sounding serious again, "its not like he ever visits or anything, you guys had a major falling out."

"Just tell me," Helen complained tiredly.

"Guess," he offered and she was sure if she could his face than he'd be smiling.

"This isn't a game," she retorted, "and you shouldn't be finding this amusing."

"If you could remember than you would know that whenever I ask about Dad you never answer my questions," Nick informed her, "its amusing to me how are positions are reversed."

"If you don't tell me his name than I am going to ground you," she threatened him half heartedly and he laughed slightly.

"What's my name?" he asked her.

"Nick," she stated exasperated and rolling her eyes.

"What's it short for?" he questioned seriously.

"Nikola," she replied slowly, "you were named after Tesla?"

"Correct," he praised her, "I was named after my father."

"Nikola Tesla is your father?" Helen repeated genuinely shocked.

"Yes," he affirmed, "that surprises you."

"I never really... Nikola Tesla? Seriously..." she muttered mostly to herself, "and he's still a vampire?"

"Of course he's still a vampire," Nick scoffed, "its not like there's a magical potion to cure vampirism, even if there was I doubt he'd go for it. He always seemed proud to be vampire."

"Only part vampire," she corrected mildy as something else dawned on her, "and you're part vampire too, its why you took care of those Sweepers so easily and your shoulder... its already healed, hasn't it?"

"Yes," Nick confirmed sighing.

"And Patty...?"

"She was a vampire too," he told her.

"Then how come she died?" Helen wondered confused.

"Vampires don't survive having thier heart ripped out of their chest," Nick snapped bitterly and she instantly regretted asking.

"I'm sorry," she offered quietly but for the first time truly understanding why everyone could be so afraid of Ashley.

"It's okay," he replied equally quietly, "its not like you remember, you weren't even there."


	14. Sewers

_Thank yous to athannah for reviewing :D btw does anyone want to see a picture of Nick I drew?  
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They fell silent for a time, Nick was concentrating on leading them through the putrid sewers and Helen utterly lost in thought. She had not expected Tesla to be the father of her child, having never taken his affections seriously especially as he consider love an 'irrational self-destructive impulse disguised as joy' but now it made her wonder. And there was the fact that the Cabal were apparently in power and she still had no idea what to make of her memories, being clueless was not something she was very used to.

"Mom, can I ask you something?" Nick asked breaking into her thoughts.

"I guess," she shrugged curiously.

"Why did you decided to go and visit a freelance Cabal agent in the middle of the night?" he questioned and she almost laughed, when he put it like that it did sound bizarre.

"Good question," she complimented him trying to think of the best way to phrase her answer that didn't sound insane, "what I've noticed is my memories do not match up with actual events and I don't know if what I remember is real or not... I remember Kate joining us at the Sanctuary but no one else remembers her so I went to see if she was real and if she remembered me. Which she didn't."

"Clearly," Nick muttered sounding worried, "what do you mean by your memories not matching up with actual events?"

"Alot of the things I remember didn't happen and it has nothing to do with the amnesia," Helen explained.

"Like what?" he wondered puzzled.

"Like... the Cabal have fallen, Ashley and James are both dead, Kate is working with us, Nikola is no longer a vampire and John has an enery elemental inside of him," Helen explained, "but none of that actually happened. Did it?"

"No," he confirmed, "that's why you were so surprised to see me talking to James, you thought he was dead. And Ashley... Some energy elementals are pretty nasty, is that what made Druitt kill? And if it somehow got passed to Ashley..."

"That's my working theory," she stated impressed his intuition, "you believe me then?"

"You speak truthfully," he offered, "and you were right about Kate existing, even if she didn't remember you. I don't how its possible though."

"Neither do I," Helen sighed, "none of this makes any sense and President Whitcomb sounds worrying."

"What, because of the Sweepers?" Nick wondered.

"No... Is he by any chance related to a Dana Whitcomb?" she questioned wishing she was both right and wrong about it.

"Yes actually," Nick answered readily, "his mother, she's like this billionaire, paid for his campaign and everything. She's been involved in some pretty secret stuff."

"I hate it when I'm right," she sighed again, "Dana Whitcomb is Cabal, she's the one who killed Ashley."

"The Cabal are running the country?" Nick repeated, "we're so bleeping screwed."

"My sentiments exactly," Helen agreed with him, "I thin-"

"Shush," Nick interjected as they came to an abrupt halt and continued in a whisper, "there's someone else down here."

"Sweepers?" she asked quietly feeling her heartbeat staring to quicken, she had no weapon and she was virtually blind.

"I don't know," he whispered back, "I think there's just one person, they're feeling determined, vengeful... I think I can take them."

"You think?" she hissed and he gently moved her backwards against the wall.

**_Don't move_** his voice appeared in her mind much to her amazement but she assumed it was less noisy than speaking. He let go of her hand and she felt suddenly very isolated, the only sound was the dripping of some rank water nearby. Until the footsteps came.

She could hear them nearby, unmistakable as someone moved through thr sewers with an eerily echoy effect of their feet and the slight splash of water displaced by their feet, the only saving grace was it only sounded like one set of footsteps just like Nick had noticed. Helen could only hold her breath as they drew nearer and louder, after a minute she noticed a sliver of light to her right caused by af flashlight.

It gave a slight illumination of her surroundings, not that dank sewer walls were that exciting to look at, and she could make out Nick's vague outline pressed against the wall awaiting the person. The light increased in size as the person drew ever nearer until without warning Nick lashed out and swept his foot underneath the man, knocking him to the ground with a splash and the flashlight was flung from his grasp.

"Don't mov-" Nick began pointing the stunner at the man's outline but trailed off looking confused, "Dad?"


	15. Tesla

_Thanks so much to Goldthwaite and Akaylah for reviewing, yes you right about who is father was and Nikola does stay in the story, he's kinda my favorite character hence my avatar lol. To see my picture of Nick go to my profile then click on "Homepage" and it'll take you to deviant art, the picture of Nick is at the top  
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"Nick? What the hell are you doing down in the sewers in the middle of the night?" Nikola Tesla asked looking confused as he scrambled for his flashlight and got to his feet.

"We could ask you the same question," Helen retorted equally confused as to why he would be down there, despite this she was pleased to see him.

"Helen?" he stated noticing her for the first time and shining the flashlight at her with a slight smile, "well isn't it nice to see you both, shame about the welcome."

"I am sorry," Nick apologized, "I didn't know it was you."

"Why are you down here Nikola?" Helen asked again.

"Why do you think?" Nikola replied irritably, "looking for Ashley, what else would I be doing?"

"Why do you want to find Ashley?" Helen wondered aloud before recalling that he'd been the one to attack her.

"Have you lost your mind?" Nikola demanded.

"Just her memory," Nick offered and she realized his once blue eyes were now the typical vampiric black.

"You've lost your memory?" Nikola repeated dubiously, "really?"

"Yes," Helen confirmed feeling slightly surprised by how cold he was being towards her, "you don't believe me?"

"I've never known anyone with amnesia to decide to go wandering around in the sewers in the middle of the night," Nikola snapped, "so forgive me for being skeptical."

"Well I-" Helen began but Nick interrupted.

"Can we not do this now?" he complained, "the Sweepers are still after us, remember?"

"Being chased by Sweepers," Nikola commented sounding amused, "that is hilarious. You're losing your touch Helen."

"We need to get back to the Sanctuary before they catch us and kill us," Nick contiuned ignoring his father's comment, "especially if they're Cabal."

"The Sweepers are Cabal?" Nikola repeated scowling again, "that is news to me."

"Long story," Nick whispered, "now come on, there's more people in the sewers. West of our position, a group of them feeling determined."

"How far away are they?" Helen inquired worriedly.

"I don't know... close" Nick shrugged looking embarrased, "I told you, I lack control when it comes to my telepathic powers."

"I see a light!" yelled someone's gruff voice followed by the sound of people running.

"That close," Nick offered handing her the stun gun, "go to the Sanctuary, I'll lead them away."

"That is far to danger-" Helen and Nikola began at the same time but Nick simply smirked and darted away, "Nick!"

"There he is!" called the first voice.

"After him!" yelled another.

Nikola switched off the flashlight as the Sweepers came into view and vanished again as they chased after Nick, Helen could only hope he was smart enough to get away from them. Still she let out a frustrated sigh and tightened her grip on the weapon as Nikola switched the flashlight back on.

"Think he'll be okay?" she asked of Nikola.

"He damn well better be because when I see him again, I am going to ground him," Nikola announced staring after their son.

"Not if I ground him first," Helen retorted earning a slight smile from Nikola before she thought of something else, "I don't suppose you know the way to the Sanctuary from here by any chance?"

"Not a clue," Nikola answered bluntly, "any particular direction you like the look of?"

"Nope."


	16. Fight and Flight

Nick bolted before his parents could protest loud enough to give themselves away and sure enough the Sweepers chased after him, he knew it probably wasn't the best plan in the world but he knew he could shake them by himself and he couldn't think of anything better.

He darted down another passageway just as the Sweepers began shooting at him, he was thankful for their terrible aim as turned another corridor which led to the outside. It was nice to breath fresh air again, it sucked having heightened senses when you were in such a foul smelling place as a sewer. He shoved aside his own relief and concentrated on sensing the Sweepers which was even more difficult since he was running.

Most had a vague sense of relief for fresh air, a handful were irritated they even had to go to the sewers, one was starving and another was overconfident for some reason. Nick decided it was just because he was unarmed and outnumbered and located a suitable building for his intent.

He launched himself at the door which broke off its heavily rusted hinges before running to the stairs and beginning his ascent. The Sweepers quickly followed and he could make out their numbers for the first time, 12 of them but he wasn't concerned as he raced on upwards, sensing his pursers certainty at his doom as they cornered him as well as some annoyance at having to chase him up 18 flights of stairs.

He could almost laugh at them, so completly oblivious to the fact he was the cornering them. Not that he was going to kill them, killing someone when you could feel their thoughts and their emotions was never a pleasant experience for him plus their was their fact their body armor was tuned to explode if its wearer died, another reason why he had ran rather than confront them as his father had been thinking, they would have been caved in and his mother almost certainly killed. Neither of them appeared to know this however.

Finally he reached the roof and ran to the edge, the Sweepers following him panting breathlessly. He sensed their overwheleming confidence, oozing out of their minds like drool from a dog's mouth.

"Dead end kid," announced one of the men and Nick turned ever so slowly to face them.

"It was stupid of you to be out after curfew, even stupider to run here," stated another gruffy smirking arrogantly as Nick backed away and stepped onto the ledge.

He had to supress his own smirk and instead mimed looking miserable as he braced himself for the barrage of bullets about to hit him, despite how they healed it still hurt like hell. He gave a fake resigned sigh right before they opened fire without hesitation, agony pierced momentarily when the bullets hit before he was knocked backwards of the ledge.

"Target terminated," the first man's voice echoed as he fell.

Nick smashed into the ground and groaned in pain at he felt his bones breaking from the force of the collision, he lay still for a second while he healed from his wounds before standing up and brushing the dust from his jacket.

"Easy," he announced feeling quite pleased with himself.

"Not quite," hissed a voice in the shadows as Nick spun to face them.

"Bleep."

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"Do you think this is the right way?" Helen asked of Nikola as they came to yet another fork in the sewers, she's never realized before how much of a labyrinth it was.

"I don't know," Nikola answered sounding bored to which she sighed.

"Not helpful Nikola," she told him tiredly.

"Well I'm lost, don't ask me for directions," he commented.

"Well I'm lost too," Helen pointed out shining the flashlight down both virtually identical tunnels.

"You must have had some idea the direction you were headed," Nikola complained.

"I was following Nick," she explained yet again, "you must have had some idea where you were going."

"I was just looking for Ashley, I wasn't trying thinking about how to get out of here," he informed her blandly.

"To kill her and finish the job?" Helen wondered bitterly suddenly feeling slightly worried about Nikola and Ashley being at the Sanctuary at the same time.

"Of course," Nikola offered darkly, "she murdered our daughter, or have you forgotten that?"

"Yes, I have amnesia," Helen pointed out frustratedly, "what part of that don't you understand?"

"If I told you I had suddenly lost my memory, would you believe me?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Really?" Nikola quesitioned raising an eyebrow.

"Okay maybe not," Helen offered honestly, "but you're you."

"Well that explains everything," he muttered sarcastically, "why should I believe anything you say anyway?"

"Since when did you become so distrustful of me?" Helen questioned feeling genuinely hurt that he was acting this way.

"Since you refused to care that our daughter was murdered," Nikola answered glaring at her angrily, "you protect Patty's murderer, she's at the Sanctuary right now isn't she?"

"Of course I cared!" Helen protested.

"Ha! I thought you said you didn't remember her?" Nikola snapped.

"I don't!" Helen answered sighing frustratedly, "but I know myself and I know how much it hurts to lose a daughter but vengence is not the way."

"You know what its like to lose a daughter?" Nikola scoffed, "what happened to 'amnesia?'"

"In my memories Ashley died," Helen told him turning away sadly, "she's my daughter too."

"In your memories?" Nikola repeated dubiously before sparking to anger again, "I know she's your daughter Helen, she's just as deranged and insane as her god damned father!"

"You make it sound like it was my fault," Helen bit back not wanting to argue with him but feeling the need to defend herself.

"Well maybe it was your fault," Nikola told her darkly facing her again, "you should have known better than to breed with Johnny, evil begets evil."

"That is entirely unfair!" Helen pointed out furiously.

"Is it?" Nikola asked, "its not like you were even there, you and Henry were somewhere in Japan while our daughter was being ripped apart by psycho junior!"

"Well why didn't you save her if you were there?" Helen demanded bitterly.

"I came running as soon as I heard the screams!" Nikola yelled at her before continuing in a sorrowful whisper, "I was just too far away to save her."

"I'm sorry," Helen offered almost timidly seeing the pain glistening in his eyes, she reached out and hugged him gently, "I'm so sorry."

"You really don't remember, do you?" Nikola asked quietly as the fight seemed to drain out of him as he hugged her gently back.

"No," Helen answered equally quietly.

For longer than they should have they just stood in silence in their embrace, despite the fact they were in a dank, disgusting sewer, her feet were frozen from the sewage water, they were lost, she had weird amnesia and the Sweepers were still probably after them, Helen still found Nikola's prescence comforting.

"Were we happy?" she asked gently.

"The decade we were toghter?" he stated softly, "those were the happiest years of my life."

"Really?" Helen wondered and he broke their embrace slightly so she could see the sincerity in his eyes as he spoke.

"Yes," he told her with a half smile she couldn't help but return before Nikola decided to drag them back to reality, "right. I think we should try the right fork."

"Right it is," Helen agreed hurriedly fumbling with the torch and shining it in the decided direction, "right it is."


	17. Sunrise

"Remind me why we decided to come this way?" Nikola moaned as they rounded another turn to be confronted by another dank, disgusting sewer tunnel.

"I don't know," Helen sighed before cringing as a rat scuttled away from the light, "how long do you think we've been down here?"

"3 hours and 47 minutes," Nikola offered also sighing, "who would of thought this place'd have such an extensive sewer system. You know its not even a sewer system, its a labyrinth designed to torture us and Nick left us here for that very reason."

"Nikola!" Helen laughed slightly as he gave her a smirk.

"Wait," he said stopping in his tracks for a second and sniffing the air, "do you smell that?"

"The sewer?" she wondered suppressing a yawn.

"No, fish," Nikola corrected her wandering with enthusiasm down the left corridor as she relictantly followed him.

"Nikola I don't smell- wait yes I do!" she ammended her own statement as the two shared a hopeful glance.

The almost ran down the corridor which led to the outside, they were by the river and the fish smell was coming from a fishing boat a little way off. Helen had never been more relieved to breath fresh air in her life. She closed her eyes for a minute enjoying the cold yet gently breeze as it caressed her face, she reopened her eyes and smiled as was Nikola.

"Am I a genius or what?" he announced confidently beaming at her.

"You're a genius for smelling fish?" she retorted raising an eyebrow.

"It got us out of there didn't it?" Nikola pointed out before gazing towards the horizon where the sun was just beginning to rise, "pity it took us all night. But hey, at least we get to see the run rise together."

"Now really is not the time Nikola," Helen told him but was forced to admit it wa a beautfiul site nonetheless, "we need to get back to the Sanctuary, who knows if the Sweepers are still after us and Nick might be worried."

"Spoilsport," Nikola complained pouting.

"Don't pout Nikola, its not very becoming," Helen chided him half heartedly, "now come on."

"Helen," Nikola said looking at her curiously, "do you have any idea on how we get to the Sanctuary from here?"

"Yes... kind of... maybe... No," Helen admitted rubbing her tired eyes, "do you?"

"There's the woman!" yelled a voice and she turned to see another patrol of Sweepers spotting her and racing towards.

"Bloody hell," Helen swore, "will we ever be rid of these guys?"

"Allow me," Nikola told her with a smirk as he changed into his vampire form and charged at the patrol while she dived behind a rock and shot stun blasts in their direction.

She wasn't entirely sure that Nikola's approach of killing them was the best way but it seemed the only way to deal with them, besides the only place they could run was back into the sewers or to dive into the river neither choice was particularly appealing to her.

The sound of bullets shooting stopped and she stood up to see Nikola standing proudly amongst the now dead Sweepers and a few she had simply stunned, smiling triumphantly at her as he flexed his claws, not noticing that the Sweeper's uniforms were emitting an odd deep red light.

"This is what we should have done in the first place," Nikola told her, "now we're-"

She never heard the rest of his sentance, in the next instant there was an explosion. The crimson light became fire as the Sweepers armor blasted, she heard Nikola's scream mixed in with her own as it hit her and she was knocked unconciouss and thrown into the river.


	18. Failing

_Thanks so much to athannah, Amyranth Harkness and Akaylah for reviewing! If you love cliffhangers than you are going to love this chapter_

* * *

Nick could only gape for a minute at the creatures alongside the man, they were humanoid in appearance but with grotesque bone structures on their faces. He had never seen an abnormal like that before but what bothered him most aside from the fact they were all growling threatenly at him, was the Cabal symbol on their body armor.

"What are those things?" he asked of the bald man who seemed to be leading them.

"These?" the man questioned smirking and nodding towards the abnormals, "there are my friends, Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta... You get the point, I'm sure you know the Greek Alphabet Nick."

"How do you know my name?" Nick asked worriedly sensing the barely contained rage the abnormals were expressing.

"Oh I know alot more than your name," the man answered cooly, "I know everything about you, your family, the Sanctuary."

"Well good for you," Nick commented sardonically as he tried and failed to read into the strangers thoughts or feelings, silently he cursed his lack of control.

"Yes, quite," the stranger agreed either not noticing or caring that it was sarcasm, "the only thing I don't know is what you and Helen want with a freelance Cabal operative, by the name of Kate Freelander."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Nick lied.

"Don't play dumb with me," the man snapped glaring at him, "I will find out one way or another. I'm giving you a chance to make this easy on yourself, don't be a does your mother want with Kate Freelander?"

"Sorry to disappoint you," Nick replied sharping his teeth and claws in preperation, "but I don't know anyone by that name."

"Very well," the man sighed before turning to the abnormals, "get him."

* * *

Nikola blinked open his eyes as he realized he was underwater, and drowning.

Frantically he kicked his half healed legs, propelling himself towards the light as he gasped wildly for air. Finally he clawed his way to the surface and greedily gulped in lungfuls of air, trying not to wince as the water stung the recovering burns marring his body.

He tread water for a minute and tried to order his thoughts into a coherrent pattern, scanning around him he noticed where he had came from the inferno ravishing the side and creating a beacon, illuminating his surrounds better than the still rising sun which was one of the few things he was grateful for. At least now he realized why Nick had decided to run off rather than confront the Sweepers, not that it was much use to him and Helen now.

Helen.

Nikola felt his heart rate increasing in panic as his searched frantically for her but saw no sign, vaguely he recalled she had been thrown into the river like he had. Fear bite into his skin worse than the cold, she couldn't be dead, not his Helen, he couldn't lose another.

"HELEN!" he screamed hoping she had simply climbed ashore and vanished from view, "HELEN! HELEN!"

Gaining no answer he dived underwater and began swimming towards the direction he thought she had fallen in, he refused to believe she was dead not because of his actions.

He stopped when he saw the dark outline of a person and swam desperately towards it, feeling both relief and alarm when he realized it was her, drifting limply towards the bottom of the river. He grabbed her arm and kicked to the surface, dragging her along with him. As he reached the surface he realized she wasn't breathing.

Trying not to let his terror get the better of him he headed for the shore, half collapsing onto the gravelly ground he shakily pulled her beside him and lay her onto the ground. He shook some of the water off his hand and pressed it to her neck searching for his pulse. There was none.

"No, no, no, no," he muttered breathlessly to himself as he began give her CPR, "don't die Helen, not now, not like this. Come on Helen, don't die on me. Don't die."


	19. Unconscious

Nick growled in frustration as he violently kicked back more of the abnormals, they were relentless and tough, when you knocked them down they just got back up, even the one he had blinded. He was outnumbered and it was one of the rare occasions when the creatures were actually stronger than he was, logically he knew it was only a matter of time before he lost.

"Your fighting style is impressive," the stranger commented, he was simply leaning against a wall and watching amused as they fought, "especially considering your age."

"Why thank you," Nick applauded sarcastically elbowing an abnormal in the face, "it means so much to me coming from a namelesss Cabal psychopath."

"My name is Montague," the stranger offered smiling slightly, "does that make you feel any better."

"Not really," Nick shrugged breathlessly as an abnormal grabbed his arm and flung him onto the ground.

Nick tried to get back to his feet but another abnormal kicked him hard in the stomach, winding him. He fell back to his knees and gasped for breath as an abnormal triumphantly roared and kicked his head forcefully knocking him unconcious.

* * *

_Her head throbbed painfully as she tried to force her eyes to open, her eyelids felt like lead as she struggled to see though the blurry haze of colors greeting her._

_"She's waking up!" yelled Nikola sounding happy, "come quick! She's waking up!"_

_"Wha...?" she tried to say but her throat was raw._

_"See? I told you she's wake up," Nikola commented to someone, "its okay Helen, you're okay now."_

_"Magnus?" a voice questioned, "Magnus its Will and Tesla, can you hear us?"_

_Helen tried to blink in confusion, wondering how it was possible since apparently her protege had been dead for 12 years. She finally forced her eyes open to make out their faces, Will looking exactly like she had last seen him and Nikola wearing different clothes to what he had a minute ago._

_"Hey sleeping beauty," Nikola greeted her with an arrogant smirk, "long time, no see."_

_"Don't worry Magnus, you're okay," Will told her comfortingly._

"Don't die on me Helen," Nikola's voice echoed around her but his lips didn't move, "breath damn it, breath!"

_Another wave of confusion hit her, she was breathing so was his voice yelling at her when he was sitting right there smiling silently? She had no clue but her eyes started protesting being opened and she felt herself slipping away._

_"No, come on Helen stay awake," Nikola told her suddenly anxious._

_She tried to tell him she was sorry that she couldn't stay awake but conciousness was too hard for her._

_"Magnus!"_

Helen's eyes snapped open and she instantly spluttered, coughing up water at a worried looking Nikola. She sat up quickly gasping for much needed air, Nikola knelt backwards to give her some space as she sucked in the cold morning air to her grateful lungs.

Bewilderment hung heavily on her mind as she gazed at the river with the sun still rising and back across to the fire where Nikola had fought the Sweepers, she couldn't help but scowl as she turned back to him. He was wearing his original outfit, a dark suit and cravat as he had worn in the sewers and when he fought the Sweepers although now it was charred and damp. Her scowl deepened as she studied his face, panting as water dripped from his hair while a second ago with Will his hair had been dry.

"What in god's name...?" she asked breathlessly.

"I just saved your life," he answered also out of breath, "you're welcome."

"No, I just... You were with Will," she told him confused.

"Will's dead," he informed her gently.

"But I just saw him, both of you," she tried to explain wondering if she'd been hallucinating.

"I think I lost you there for a minute but I brought you back," he stated with a mixture of puzzlement and pride, "good old CPR."

"I don't..." she began but thought better of it, she was too exhausted to even begin and try to figure out what had happened, "never mind... let's just... let'd just get back to the Sanctuary."

"Okay," Nikola agreed nodding slightly, "okay."


	20. Truth

_Thanks to athannah and Akaylah for reviewing_

* * *

"Wakey, wakey," cooed a familar voice and Nick grogily opened his eyes to see Montague's arrogant smirk, "I said awaken. We have much to discuss, you and I."

"Go to hell," Nick snapped jolting away from his captor only to discover he was handcuffed to a chair.

Feeling a slight hint of panic as memories returned to him, Nick quickly took note of his surroundings. They were no longer in the street but a deserted parking garage, a few dim flickering lights were the only things illuminating the area, if you could call it that. He spied the abnormals nearby, leaning against an old pickup truck and instantly began growling as they noticed he was awake. He was mildly grateful that their was less of them, the one he had blinded was nowhere to be seen as was another he had seriously injured. Not that he stood that much of a chance against so many.

"A much quieter place to chat, don't you think?" Montague announced strolling away from him and gesturing to their location, "don't have to worry about the Sweepers interferring."

"Wouldn't think you'd worry about that," Nick commented testing the strength of the handcuffs and feeling sure he could break free, the problem was getting away from Montague and his abnormals, "considering the Cabal own the Sweepers."

"What?" exclaimed Montague turning back to him, Nick both sensed and saw his shock, "how the bloody hell do you know that?"

"Does it matter?" Nick smirked with more confidence than he felt.

"You might want to start being nicer to me," Montague growled narrowing his cold azure eyes as he knelt to be on eye level with Nick, "I could let my friends over there interrogate you their way, which involves alot of violence and alot of pain. The best thing about it would be you heal so quickly they don't even have to show restraint."

"Do what you will," Nick hissed quietly, "because I am never going to betray the Sanctuary."

"Of course you won't," Montague agreed in a whisper, "you've been brainwashed since you were born to believe Helen's lies, you never had a chance really."

"Don't insult my mother," Nick snapped defensively, "you don't even know her."

"Oh yes I do," Montague told him and Nick was confused by the fact he spoke the truth, "and I too used to believe her lies until the Cabal showed me the truth, they- we are saving the world."

"The only way they could save the world would be if they ceased to exist," Nick stated firmly.

"Abnormals are dangerous Nick," Montague insisted, "look at the destruction Big Bertha caused before she was finally put to sleep. Your own father once -and possibly still does- wished to resurrect the vampire race, enslace humanity and rule the world. Any Abnormal we don't control or kill is bad news."

"My father is a good person," Nick said firmly feeling slightly put off by the honesty in Montague's voice, the man truly believed all he was saying, "and you're never going to convince me abnormals are evil, the majority aren't. For crying out loud baldie, I'm an abnormal!"

"As am I," Montague said bluntly, "we can't choose our blood, but we can choose the side we fight for."

"Blood is thicker than water," Nick quoted darkly.

"Really?" Montague scoffed smiling icily, "was blood thicker than water when your sister killed her father? Was blood thicker than water when she butchered her sister? When she tried to kill you? Was blood thicker than water when you're father abandoned you for vegenance?"

"Shut up!" Nick yelled not wanting to think about the past.

"Is blood really thicker than water Nick?" Montague asked not bothered by his outburst, "look at you, you're a child with the world on your shoulders, a burden your mother has forced on you."

"She didn't force anything on me," Nick interrupted, "my mother's work, stopping you and the Cabal is more important than anything."

"She's manipulated you every step of the way and you can't even see it," Montague sighed rubbing his eyes.

"No she hasn't," Nick stated stubbornly, "she doesn't manipulate me, I'm her son, she loves me."

"Really?" Montague repeated doubtfully "its not like she hesitates to put you in harm's way. You've already been shot and fell from a building in just one night! Do mothers do that to the children they love?"

"It was my idea," Nick snapped angrily, "she doesn't know anything, she has amnes- I mean she doesn't know anything."

"Amnesia?" Montague repeated with a mixture of bemusement and self satisfaction.

"Don't be stupid," Nick scoffed hoping Montague would change his mind but at the same time feeling sure he wouldn't.

"Nick you just admitted it," Montague pointed out, "too late for take backsies."

"Bleep," he muttered frustrated with himself.

"Don't feel too bad," Montague offered comfortingly, "when you were asleep I injected you with truth serum. Since you can tell when people are lying, I thought it only fair that I should know the same."

"That's a dirty trick," Nick pointed out glaring at his smirking captor with renewed anger, and renewed desperation to escape.

* * *

Helen found herself sighing as she and Nikola trekked through the streets towards the Sanctuary, she supposed the pair of them must look a sight with their clothes charred and damp at the same time. She was grateful there was virtually no one out at such an early hour, otherwise they were sure to attract attention and considering how the Cabal were seemingly in power she doubted it would be from the right kind of people.

Seeing the city under the dawn sky was actually horrible for her, she would have expected change to have occured in 21 years but not like this. Far too many places she passed were abandoned, condemned or simply in ruins and even the ones not desolate didn't look much better. Graffiti was rife, paint was peeling off and webs of cracks scarred the walls.

At first she had thought they were just in a bad neighbourhood but everywhere she looked was the same and it wasn't just the buildings either, any plantlife she saw was either dead or dying or a weed, the cars they passed were a combination of rusted and filthy, even the people she saw. Their clothes were cheap and old and their faces seemed sad, their eyes devoid of hope.

"What the bloody hell happened here?" Helen asked half to herself.

"I wish I knew," Nikola answered quietly and she glanced to his face, he looked just as confused as she was, "it's been a long time since I was here."

"I'm guessing it has something to do with the Cabal being in power," Helen offered thoughtfully.

"What?" Nikola stated scowlign, "I thought that guy err... Gideon something was in power... White? Whitley? Whitman?"

"Gideon Whitcomb," Helen gave him the name, "son of Dana Whitcomb. Cabal."

"That I did not know," Nikola muttered, "I almost prefer the sewers now, looking at this... It's like a whole new world here."

"It is to me," Helen offered sighing mournfully and trying not to think of what she'd seen when she died, "so it wasn't like this 12 years ago?"

"No," he answered firmly, "but then Gideon's only been in power for 6 or 8 years, I think."

"Where have you been all this time?" she inquired curiously.

"Hunting Ashley," he informed her darkly and she almost regretted asking, "this is the first time she's returned to Old City in that time, I guess electrocuting her knocked a few screws loose."

"Nikola please," she sighed again feeling her tiredness, "she is my daughter and the last thing I need right now is to hear you talking about killing her."

"Okay," he agreed much to her surprise, she supposed he was taking it easy on her either because she'd just almost died or because they'd been lovers or engaged or married.

"Nikola?" she questioned shivering slightly in the cold morning air, "were we just lovers or did we marry?"

"Good question," he answered with a half smile as he removed his jacker and handed it to her, "here, take this."

"Thank you," she said gratefully returning his smile and pulling the jacket around her which made her feel slightly warmer.

"We were never married," Nikola informed her with nostalgia in his voice, "but we were engaged, after Ashley and Will announced their proposal we realized we'd never actually thought of it. Seemed like a good idea at the time so I proposed, you accepted, smiles all round."

"Really?" she breathed still finding it slightly hard to believe she and Nikola had been a couple, a nearly married couple.

"It surprises you?" he guessed frowning slightly.

"I just never really took you seriously," she explained honestly, "the way you act- acted around me, I just assumed if we ever did... be together it would be a fling rather than a committed relationship. A crush rather than love. You always talk of love as irrational and doomed anyway."

"Its true though isn't it?" Nikola questioned sadly, "I've loved you since I first laid eyes on you even though you loved someone else, even though you've shot me and tried to kill me. Is that rational? No. And our love was doomed anyway, we're not together anymore. We haven't even seen each other for 12 years."

"Do you still love me?" Helen asked cusiously, noticing how he had phrased his sentance."

"Yes," he said after a moment of hesitation, "I know it sounds cliche but I have always loved you and I probably always will. No matter what happens, I'm glad you gave me the chance to make you happy because we were, we truly were."

"Until Ashley..." she muttered looking down and trailing of sadly.

"Yes," Nikola snapped bitterly, "thank you so much Johnny- I told you we could find our way, there's the Sanctuary."

Helen glanced up and sure enough she was pleased to see her home, much to her relief she noticed it appeared unchanged by the passage of time or by the Cabal's regime.

"Well there's a sight for sore eyes," she stated smiling slightly.

"Definately," Nikola agreed leading them to the gate which to her surprise had no keypad just a silver metallic square, "its a retinal scanner my dear, I doubt it'll let me in so just look at it and it should open."

She scowled slightly, wondering if that really was a retinal scanner and peered into it. It flashed blue for a minute and hummed before the gate instantly swung open, she was quite impressed. Nikola smirked triumphantly and led them inside before the gate closed again and headed towards the building where the familiar faced door opened as Bigfoot greeted them.

"Where hav- What is he doing here?" he growled when he noticed Nikola, "you're not welcome here."

"Oh please you overgrown hairball," Nikola retorted rolling his eyes, "would I bother coming to the front door if I wasn't welcomed by Helen and Nick?"

"He's fine," Helen defended him and the Big Guy reluctantly led the smirking vampire into the building followed by herself, she almost sighed with relief at the comforting warmth inside and familiarity as home.

"Why are you here?" Big Guy demanded again of Nikola, glaring at him distrustfully.

"Frankly I'm insulted," Nikola scoffed staring him down, "we've been dodging Sweepers, getting lost in sewers, getting blown up and drowning. I need a shower, a meal, a bed and a bottle of wine, not necessarily in that order."

"Yeah," Helen agreed turning towards the stairs to her room, "minus the wine, not a good combo with a head injury. You can tell Nick to stop worrying at any rate."

"What? Why isn't he with you?" Bigfoot questioned as Helen spun back to face him.

"He's not back yet?" she wondered and he shook his head slowly.

"Well where the hell is he?" Nikola demanded as the trio exchanged worried glances.


	21. Escape

_Thanks to Akaylah for reviewing :)_

* * *

Nick took a deep breath and tried to focus on a plan, he could escape the handcuffs and get past Montague but then the abnormals were too close to the exit. He needed to either neutralize or kill them but he had neither stunner nor gun, just himself and his surroundings. It would be difficult to kill one, let alone all of them using his vampiric powers alone.

He studied them carefully, more particularly their armor. It reminded him of the armor the Sweepers wore, since the Sweepers were Cabal he figured it made sense that their body armor came from the same source so theoretically he assumed it was possible that upon death their armor would explode too which was perfect for his escape. He knew it was a long shot but it was the only plan he could think of under the circumstances.

"It's weird," Montague mused after a minute, "how you can look like both your mother and your father at the same time, I can't decide whether I should help you or kill you once I'm done with you."

"Explains why your emotions are all over the place," Nick commented truthfully, since his powers had started working again he had noticed Montague's emotions shifted rapidly all over the spectrum but then so did the abnormals, he'd never felt anything quite like it.

"Stay out of my head," barked Montague glaring at him again.

"I wish I could control my powers," Nick admitted, he did long for the control he had had when he was a child.

"It's a shame you can't," Montague agreed feeling regret as his anger disaperated instantly, "you and your twins' powers were similar to the Morrigan's, together the power was so much greater. A shame young Patricia died."

"Don't talk about my sister," Nick snarled summoming his courage, he had to try his plan the sooner the better.

"Then tell me about Freelander," Montague offered and his emotions snapped to a sense of fairness.

"A freelance Cabal operative," Nick blurted out before he could stop himself, "Mom wanted to see her."

"Why?" Montague questioned confused, "she's never met her befo-"

He was cut off as Nick made his move, he pulled his wrists apart quickly and with enough force to break the futile chain between them and in one fluid motion changed to a vampire and lashed out at Montague. The man cried out in pain as Nick slashed him across the face, which Nick was sure would scar assuming he lived long enough.

"You son of a bitch!" Montague cursed falling to his knees and clutching his face.

"It'll add to your collection," Nick sneered before turning towards the abnormals who charged at him.

Nick dodged the first few blows and kicked one of them to the ground before another grabbed his outstretched arm and flung him aside, he crashed against the pickup with his elbow smashing through the window. It gave him the perfect idea though, one of the broken shards was large enough to use as a knife.

He grabbed the shard and turned back to the abnormals, scanning for the weakest looking one and launched a kick at it causing it to fall onto the ground. It barely had time to growl before Nick stabbed it through the neck with the glass, time seemed to slow for him and everything else melted away except for the overpowering emotions of the thing he was killing.

While it wasn't entirely true that when someone died their life flashed before their eyes, it did make them think and it never ceased to amaze Nick how much information he sensed in the instant of death and what he sensed shocked him to the core. The abnormal hadn't always been that way, he had been human once before the Cabal. As he realized it was dying he regained control of himself, the mind control drugs momentarily neutralized.

Nick saw his memories of a woman, the man's wife and sensed the love he felt for her and their unborn child, a daughter the man would never see. Nick recalled their desperation for money which was why he had volunteered for the experiment, the man had been told it was to make him into a super solider, the man was promised it was only temporary and had believed the speaker, the president Nick recognized from TV. Nick felt the man's fear at the experiment as the drugs purged his humanity as much as possible and the serum that turned him into the thing he was for the Cabal's army, an army of super soldier abnormals. And there were far more of those things than Nick had originally thought, hundreds, thousands even and that was only thing the man remembered.

The man started choking as blood spewed from his mouth and tears shone from its eyes, Nick gripped its hand tightly and was grateful it offered the man some comfort. He felt the man's pain and grief that he was about to die but overwhelmingly the man felt sorrow that he'd never see his wife, never hold his baby girl. Nick felt tears leaking from his eyes as he was swept up by the man's emotions, the only comfort the man had was knowing that he was dying as himself once more.

_**Thank you**_

Nick sensed the man's last dying thought before he died, then there was nothing. All Nick felt was the empty void, emotional silence was like a loud noise which drowned out everything else for a moment. No sound, no smell, no taste, no touch, no image, nothing but his own heartbeat. He felt oddly numb for just that moment before everything came rushing back.

The abnormals were screaming and trying to run for the exit, he didn't have to wonder why as the red light flashed from the man's armor indicating imminent death. He felt their erratic fear and rage, which he guessed was caused by the mind control drugs pumping through their veins. He let his grip go slack and tried to move the cogs in his mind, he should move as he had no idea if he'd survive such a close range explosion.

He started to stand but the armor exploded, he cried out in pain and screams echoed around him. Then there was nothing.


	22. Prevention

Nick groaned and opened his eyes instantly feeling the buzz of panic as he recalled what had happened, he was met by rubble all around him and nearby flames which emitted oddly comforting heat in the icy wind of the dawn. He shivered anyway despite himself and squeezed shut his eyes again, taking a deep breath to order the chaos of his thoughts.

His clothes were charred but he had otherwise recovered from the explosion but Montague and the abnormals had not, he couldn't think of anyway they'd have survived and if they had then he would be able to sense them nearby due to his power but he sensed nothing. Blissful silence in his opinion, it was rare not to have people or abnormals cluttering his mind not that he was particularly proud of having to kill them all, killing was never something he enjoyed.

He shoved aside those thoughts and focused on his more immediate concerns like returning to the Sanctuary before his father killed Ashley or vice versa. Weakly he stood and brushed down his clothes quickly, he felt a bit shaky on his legs from either the truth serum or the shock of the blast but otherwise he seemed fine and headed towards the general direction he sensed Sally was in.

He knew the streets fairly well anyway and made his way home swiftly feeling grateful that not that many were out so early and that the Cabal has made no more moves against him, at least with Montague dead they didn't know what he had told him under the effects of the truth serum but they were sure to know about the deaths by now .

Nick reached the Sanctuary and almost sighed with relief as he entered his home and head for the stairs to his room only to stop when he sensed Bigfoot and his parents approaching and turned to face them.

"What the hell happened to you?" Nikola demanded angrily with a hint of worry in his emotions.

"Ran from the sewers got shot by Sweepers, fell from an 18 story building, got beaten up by super soldier abnormals, was captured, injected with truth serum, escaped and got blown up," Nick answered against his will and silently cursed the truth serum.

"No seriously, what happened?" Nikola questioned disbelieving and Nick has to supress laughter.

"What happened to you two?" Nick asked instead with a sudden feeling of horror as he read their minds, "you killed the Sweepers! Their armor explodes if you kill them, why did you do that?"

"We didn't know," Helen offered defensively, "why did you leave us lost in the sewers for hours?"

"You were 10 minutes away from the Sanctuary!" Nick snapped rubbing his eyes tiredly, it bothered him his mother had lost her memory, with the discovery of the Cabal's army he needed her more than ever but she was more of a liability now, both his parents were considering how little they knew.

"We didn't know that," Nikola protested, "not all of us are psychics."

"I know, I'm sorry," he apologized sighing, "at least you haven't killed Ashley yet."

"She's here?" Nikola exclaimed and Nick mentally kicked himeself, "shoe or infirmary?"

"Infirmary," Nick answered biting his tongue as Nikola stalked off in the approproate direction.

_**Bad idea Nick **_the Big Guy thought as the three of them quickly followed after him.

_**Truth serum **_he thought back _**can't help it**_

"Nikola, leave her!" Helen was pratically begging, "she's been infected with the energy elemental, she's not responsible for her actions!"

_**Not this again**_

_**She might be right. There's an easy way to tell**_

_**Tell them that**_

"Oh what, I'm supposed to believe a random energy elemental no one has ever noticed before is responsible for murdering our daughter?" Nikola almost yelled and Nick winced at the strength of his anger.

"Hey guys," Nick tried to interject but was ignored.

"If we work together then we should be able to create a device to detect energy elementals," Helen pleaded with him.

_**I'm glad you're okay by the way**_

_**You should know me better than to doubt me**_

_**I never doubted you  
**_

_**Liar**_

Big Guy shot him an amused look and grunted as they entered the infirmary after Nikola and Helen, Ashley sat bolt upright feeling a mixture of fear and anger for Nikola.

"I'm sorry Helen," Nikola apologized changing into a vampire with a steely determination.

"Hey guys-"

"Not now Nick!" Helen snapped, "Nikola I won't let you do this!"

_**Do something!**_

Nick rolled his eyes and changed himself as Nikola stalked towards the helpless Ashley who was still handcuffed to a bed, Nick grabbed his father's arm and threw him backwards onto the ground snarling for added effect.

"Leave her alone," Nick told him harshly letting out some of his pent up frustration, "there have been enough deaths tonight."

"I can't sit here while she lives!" Nikola protested looking at his son in a whole new light, "an energy elemental controlling Ashley is crazy and it will take forever to create that stupid detecion device! By then she will have escaped and killed again!"

"She won't," Helen defended her daughter fiercely as Nikola stood back up slowly.

"You'll have to lock me up to stop me," Nikola stated firmly, "unless you have a magical device to detect energy elementals lying round."

"Better," Nick announced proudly sensing their surprise, "I have one that can extract it."


	23. Extraction

_Thanks so much to Akaylah and athannah for reviewing, glad you're still enjoying it! :D_

* * *

"What?" Helen questioned blinking at the drastic change as she saw Nick as a vampire, somehow he looked more deadly than Nikola with the rings of tiredness making the darkness in his eyes more malevolent.

"3 years ago we had a problem with an energy elemental," Nick explained as if it were obvious and glanced at Big Guy who grunted and hurried away, "pesky little thing kept interferring with the London Sanctuary so naturally a device to stop it had to be built."

"And this device really works?" Helen wondered impressed as he nodded.

"This is ridiculous," Nikola announced snorting with disgust as he stood up reverting back to human seemingly not wanting to fight his son, "there is no energy elemental!"

"I hate to agree with the deranged vampire trying to kill me," Ashley said and she glanced at her daughter's doubtful expression, "but I would know if encountered an energy elemental."

"What's the harm in trying?" Nick asked of them making sure he was standing between Ashley and Nikola who were glaring at each other, "it won't take a minute, at best the energy elemental is extracted, at worse Ash and I feel a little pain."

"She'll feel pain before I'm through with her," Nikola snarled and they were saved by Bigfoot's return with supposably the device, held like a gun but much bigger, the cylinder was thicker than Big Guy's arm.

Nick took the device from him and thankfully reverted back to human form to look it over and adjust a few things on it, Biggie handed him a container reminiscint of the one they used for transporting fire elementals and Nick slotted it underneath the device where she supposed it went.

"And you built this?" Helen wondered feeling proud.

"I... well... it wasn't just me," Nick answered his face flushing with embarrassment, "you and James helped... it was mostly you and James."

"Nick!" Big Guy chided and slapped him round the head, "what have we said about modesty?"

"It wasn't exactly difficult," Nick commented moving over to Ashley's bed followed by her, Big Guy and a very angry looking Nikola.

"Wasn't difficult for you," Nikola stated with a hint of pride, "looks like I'm not the only genius in the room. Pity there isn't actually an elemental to test it on."

_**I hope you're right **_

_**Me too**_

"I'm not going to lie to you Ash," Nick said to Ashley as he took a deep breath, "this will hurt."

"Good," commented Nikola to which Nick rolled his eyes.

"This is stupid," Ashley announced, "there is no energy elemental."

Nick must have decided not to justify her with an answer, instead pressed a few buttons beside the trigger area and pointed the end at her chest before pulling the actual trigger.

Immediately Ashley screamed and Helen and Nick both visibly winced as her body jolted, a second later the being emerged. Bright blue flashes of energy zipped from her and into the deivce Nick held firmly against its thrashing and inhuman screech of rage it emitted louder than Ashley'a cries. Then it was gone. Ashley fell back weakly against the pillows and Nick stepped back studying the device, everyone else could only gape.

"Still want to kill her?" Nick asked of Nikola who seemed speechless, Nick removed the container which now had jolts of electricty visible in the glass which he handed to Nikola.

"I feel so different," Ashley muttered half to herself, "I feel... purged... like I'm completely sane once again."

"Good," Nick commented handing the device back to Bigfoot and turned to leave.

"Where are you going?" Helen inquired.

"Shower, change my clothes. In case you hadn't noticed I got blown up not long ago," he answered with surprsing honest in his voice, "then I need to take my medication and go call James."

"No need," Big Guy informed them, "he's already on his way here, flight left a few hours ago."


	24. Confusion

"Good," Nick offered tersely and exchanged a glance with Bigfoot before leaving them.

Helen felt both nervous and excited that James was coming, on one hand she was immensely pleased he was alive and on the other she feared that his coming would lead to his death like it had before.

None of the other appeared to be reacting to this, Big Guy was unlocking Ashley's handcuffs who seemed to be digesting the news aside from the occasional distrustful glance in Nikola's direction who stood silently staring at the canister containing the energy elemental with a numb expresion on his face. Her own gaze trailed to Nick's extraction device, it was truly brilliant and she couldn't help but think of how useful that would have been for John.

"Thank you," Ashley muttered rubbing her wrists, "although I guess I should be thanking Nicky really."

"Don't call him that," Big Guy grunted to which she scowled as he retrieved the device, "and get a room Nikola," he added to the dumbstruck vampire who seemed to have lost the power of speech.

"So have you got your memories back?" Ashley asked conversationally.

"No," Helen answered shaking her head, she didn't even know if she would get them back considering what she did remember had apparently not happened.

"Shouldn't Nicky be able to just get you your memories back?" Ashley questioned, "he's done it before."

"Alot has changed in 12 years Ashley," Big Guy pointed out darkly, "he can barely control his powers now and he can't even do half the things he used to."

"Why?"

"Why do you think?" the Big Guy shot back and Ashley looked away guiltily.

"So what's happening at the Sanctuary these days?" Ashley asked in an abvious attempt to change the subject, "James is coming... something to do with the Cabal?"

"Yep," Big Guy answered bluntly.

"What are the-"

"It doesn't conern you," the sasquatch interrupted, "just try and rest."

"I'm good now," Ashley pointed out, "I'm sane again, you can tell me things. Who knows, maybe I can actually help?"

"No," he shook his head, "you need rest, you're still recovering. It doesn't concern any of you."

"I need to go and lie down," Nikola announced seeming to have regained the power of speech and left without another word.

"I think that's a good idea actually," Helen mused, she was tired and while she enjoyed being near a living, breathing Ashley, Big Guy was right about her needing rest, "I shall see you two later."

Helen wandered through the corridors to her room and simply lay down on her bed, staring up at the ceiling and let her eyes drift shut. She attempted to quell the buzz of thoughts before she felt herself slipping into sleep, nice blissful sleep.

_"We should just take her back to the Sanctuary," Nikola's voice appeared crisp and certain from somewhere nearby._

_"We aren't leaving without the others," Will retorted._

_"Helen needs medical attention," Nikola snapped firmly, "she's in some bizarre type of coma, she needs help!"_

_"And what if she's still dying?" Will snapped back sounding equally frustrated, "we have no idea if she's been cured or not, we have no idea what they've done to her! If we take her back to the Sanctuary then we could be potentially killing her, not to mention Kate, Henry, Gregory and John."_

_"So?" Nikola yelled, "what if the others are already dead? What if we get caught and they execute us? Or at least you, they'll probably send me into a coma as well as her. Then you'll have 2 bodies to lug around on your bizarre quest."_

_"Why is it bizarre that I'm trying to save their lives?" Will yelled back sounding equally angry, "if you weren't so self-centered and evil then maybe you would see that!"  
_

_"I'm trying to save her life!" Nikola shouted, "I care alot about her and I won't let her die just because you're being irrational!"_

_"I'm being irrational?" Will scoffed, "why the hell did you come without backup? What kind of genius idea was that! And for the record I care about Magnus too but she wouldn't want us to kill the others just to bring her back."_

_"I don't what she wants as long as she's alive!" Nikola protested._

_"You're letting your feelings cloud your judgement!" Will yelled at him, "we're not abandoning the others! And if we do find them then maybe Gregory knows a way to wake her up."_

_"Why not just take her to the Sanctuary first and then return to rescue the others?" Nikola pffered frustratedly, "maybe we can even wake her up ourselves and then we return, with backup, to save the others?"_

_"The others could be dead by then!"_

_"The others could be dead now!"_

_"We're not taking her back!" Will screamed._

_"I'll take her back and you can stay here and get youreslf killed," Nikola snapped darkly, "is that a better plan?"  
_

_"You can't make it back with her alone!" Will barked, "besides I need you here, now, I can't do this by myself! And the sooner we stop arguing then the sooner-"_

"MOM!"

Nick's voice cut through her thoughts and she finally suceeded in opening her eyes to find herself in her bedroom with Nick shaking her awake with a panicked look on his face, she sat up and scowled as he backed away and let out a calming sigh.

"Where's the fire?" she asked sarcastically.

"I thought you were dead," Nick pointed out tearfully, "I couldn't sense you anymore like you were dead, you had a pulse but your mind... it was like you were dead, I thought you were dead... I thought... it was like..."

"Hey its okay," she told him comforting surprised by how vulnerable he appeared suddenly and hugged him gently, "I'm fine, see? Can you sense my me now?"

"Yes," he answered hugging her tightly back, "please don't die Mom, please."

"Maybe your powers were just acting weird again," Helen guessed puzzling it over herself. What in the world was going on?


	25. Ideas

_Thanks so much to Akaylah and athannah for reviewing!_

* * *

"Has James arrivied yet?" Helen asked curiously trying to put her memory situation out of her mind.

"No," Nick answered, "we need to figure out why this is happening."

"Well presumably he's coming to help with the Cabal," Helen shrugged.

"Not about that," Nick told her rolling his eyes, "why your mind... died while you were sleeping."

"It could be nothing," Helen offered.

"It's not nothing," Nick stated firmly, "when your mind died and when you actually died you heard Dad and Will talking, that can't be a coincidence it happened both times."

"I have a head injury Nick, I'm probably just delusional," she informed him, "it happens and your powers aren't exact."

"You don't know anything about my powers," he replied, "and I'm not wrong about this."

"Even if my mind did 'die' as you put it then how come I didn't stop breathing? How come I recovered from 'death' when you woke me up?" she questoned of him a sharper tone than she'd intended, "it doesn't make sense."

"Nothing about you recently makes sense," Nick pointed out, "you remember things that couldn't possibly have happened yet they're true. And I'm not crazy, you're mind was like you were dead. There was a just... a void... I can't really explain it to you, its like explaining colors to a blind man."

"I don't understand it either Nick," Helen sighed tiredly.

"What if your memories were real?" Nick said and she looked at him disbelieving, "not long after Patty died you tried to find a cure for your longevity, you went looking for the tomb of the Mayan king Pacal and you found this abnorma-"

"The Guardian, yes," Helen interjected as Nick blinked in confusion, "did the same after Ashley died and it somehow sent me to a future where I had become patient zero to all of these... things."

"Exactly," Nick agreed, "maybe it or another similar abnormal sent you to this future where Ashley had never died."

"That's a bit of a stretch," Helen scoffed, "the last thing I remember before waking up here had nothing to do with that abnormal or any similar and it doesn't feel the same. There's no mysterious fog, or creatures and I didn't keep hearing Will and Nikola everytime I lost conciousness."

"What is the last thing you remember?" Nick asked curiously.

"Hollow Earth."

"Come again?"

"My father sent me a map leading to a city beneath the Earth's surface," Helen explained, "a city with greater technology than ours and we believed my father was there."

"But my grandfather died more than centurary ago," Nick complained frowning, "went missing on a trip to a Mecca back in the 1800s."

"That's what we thought too," she answered, "but he was or is alive, possibly from the advanced technology of the city and the Cabal were using him to create abnormal soldier-""

"Show me," Nick interrupted walking towards her and holing out his hands.

"Come again?"

"I can read more than minds," he explained, "I can see memories. Sometimes. Just take my hands and think about my grandfather and the city and all that stuff, and I'll try to see it."

"Why?" she wondered feeling apprehensive.

"Because seeing is believing," Nick offered, "come on, the worst that can happen is that I give myself a migraine."

"Well... okay," Helen hesitantly agreed.

"Nick, Helen," Big Guy greeted them peering in through the still open door, "James has arrived."


	26. Greetings

_Thanks so much to athannah for reviewing_

* * *

Helen followed Nick and Big Guy back down the stairs feeling a mixture of nervousness and excitement about seeing James again, they arrived just as he knocked on the door and Big Guy let him in. She couldn't help but smile seeing her old friend standing there, dressed in his usual attire with his leg braces smiling slightly and she was thankful to see he hadn't appeared to age.

"Its good to see you all," James greeted them cheerfully, "isn't face to face far better than using those insufferable screens?"

"Pity for the 10 hour flight," Nick commented smiling as he hugged James, "welcome back Uncle Jimmy."

"Wow James, you are looking... older," Nikola announced with an eerie similarity to Bhalasaam, Helen spun to see him striding over to meet him.

_**Why were you at Bhalasaam?**_

_**Now's not really the time Nick. And stop reading my thoughts**_

_**Stop thinking so loud**_

"Why are you here?" James retorted narrowing his eyes distrustfully at the vampire.

"Why are you here?" Nikola bit back.

"To do something more worthwhile than you," James snapped.

"What makes you think that I'm not here to do something worthwhile?" Nikola replied glaring at James.

_**What is up with those two?**_

_**I thought you didn't want me to read your thoughts?**_

_**Just answer the question!**_

_**Dad's decision to go after Ashley was not popular**_

"Stop fighting," Big Guy growled.

"Yes, after all we have far worse things to deal with," Nikola agreed, "like the Cabal."

"What about Ashley?" James questioned looking concerned, "is she...?"

"I haven't killed her," Nikola informed him, "turns out she had a little problem with energy elementals but that is no longer the case."

"You missed alot," Nick pointed out as James shot him a bewildered look, "would you like to settle in or get straight to buissness? Buissness."

"You read my mind," James stated with a half smile as they began moving away from the doorway, "so what else have I missed?"

"The Cabal are more powerful than we thought, Gideon Whitco-" Nick began to answer before faltering and stopping in his tracks.

"You okay?" Helen asked worriedly as they paused to glance at him as he put a hand to his head.

"Yeah," he answered quickly, "just tired I guess. So anyway, the president is Cabal."

"What?" James exclaimed.

* * *

"Those bastards!" he yelled slamming his fist down on the desk.

Dana Whitcomb looked up from the paper she'd been reading at her fuming son as he stalked around her office much to her annoyance, anger wasn't helpful for their plans but then the boy had always had too short a temper for her liking but he played a vital role nonetheless.

"Calm down dear," she told him mildly.

"They killed an entire unit of both Sweepers and abnormal soldiers," Gideon informed her slumping into one of the seats opposite her, "its ridiculous."

"It was Helen Magnus, Nikola Tesla and their offspring," Dana pointed out, "what did you expect?"

"Mother, I didn't know Tesla was going to be there," Gideon complained slouching in a very unbecoming manner for 30 year old president, "and how was I supposed to know Nick would figure out that their armor exploded-"

"I'm not blaming you," Dana told him, it wasn't exactly the truth but it was easier than listening to his unhelpful yabbering, "but we have learned some useful information from this."

"Like what?" Gideon snapped darkly before they were interrupted by a knock at the door, "enter."

"It's me," the man called before entering the room.

"Montague," Gideon greeted him with an amused smirk, "what the hell happened to your face? Looks like little vampire boy cut your face up pretty good."

"Oh do shut up Gideon," Montague growled running a hand across the healing cuts across his face before taking the seat beside the president.

"Yes Gideon, Montague here was lucky to escape with his life," Dana chided her son, she needed to know what he'd found out not listen to them argue, "anyone else would be a corpse and we'd have no new information."

"Yes without me you wouldn't know that Helen Magnus has amnesia," Montague announced and Gideon sat bolt upright in shock, "still not quite sure why she thinks Kate Freelander is her friend but her amnesia can surely be used to our advantage, it almost got her killed last night after all."

"This is amazing," Gideon muttered smiling cruelly, "without her memories she's almost not a threat to us, we should accelerate our schedule."

"We already have," Dana informed him before turning her attention back to Montague, "and you did inject Nick with the serum?"

"Of course my lady," Montague told her smiling.

"Excellent."


	27. Recall

_Thanks to athannah for reviewing _

* * *

They wandered into Helen's study where she took a seat along with James, Nikola and Nick who sat in the corner with a hand to his head. She frowned slightly at him and glanced at James and Nikola who were eyeing each other suspiciously.

"I'll get us some refreshments," Big Guy offered going to leave.

"Bring some wine," Nikola called after him.

"That's your idea of doing something worthwhile?" James scoffed shaking his head.

"If I asked for tea then I'd be a saint?" Nikola retorted darkly and Helen could only roll her eyes.

"The drink is irrevelant," James stated firmly, "the fact is you waste time asking for it rather than discussing the whole Cabal situation."

"And you arguing with me is helping any?" Nikola replied stiffly.

"I am not arguing with you Nikola, I am merely pointing out that you're always going to be a selfish jerk," James offered and Nikola looked offended as he opened his mouth to reply.

"Stop it!" Nick interjected, "you're emotions and arguing is giving me a migraine, just please stop."

"Quiet, grown ups are talking," Nikola told him mockingly.

**_Mom, show me your memories now_**

**_Why?_**

**_Because I think it may be important_**

"So what do I do?" Helen asked aloud nervously.

"Just hold out your hands and try think of things that are relevant," Nick told her standing and approaching her then placing his hands over hers, "and close your eyes."

_"...by the time I put it down it had killed every abnormal in my laboratory..."_

_"...Ashley please..."_

_"...they took her from us in the most unnatural way possible..."_

_"...Montague John Druitt, menace to society..."_

_"...Adam! But that's impossible, you're dead, I killed you..."_

_"...is that your real name or just the one we'll put on your tombstone?..."_

_"...justice is served..."_

Helen gasped and jumped back from Nick, shivering at the tingling feeling ringing in her skull and glanced at her son who looked horrified.

"I brought the refreshments," Big Guy announced entering the room with the tray.

"Bleep," Nick muttered looking increasingly unsteady on his feet as he put a hand to his head, "this is so not good."

"What is?" Helen asked frowning.

Nick opened his mouth to reply but promptly closed it again as his eyes snapped shut and he started to fall, Big Guy flung the tray through the air and hurriedly caught him and hugged him close placing a worried hand on his forehead while James and Nikola ran to his side.

"He's burning up," Big Guy told them sounding concerned.

"I take this isn't normal after he uses his powers?" Helen inquired shakily.

"No," the other three said together.


	28. Worry

_Thank you to kadenceemmagrace for reviewing! :D_

_

* * *

_

Nick was taken into the infirmary by Big Guy and laid carefully on a bed while James began assessing the causes for whatever was wrong with him. Nikola had fallen silent and hovered around his son's bedside along with Big Guy.

"Mom," Ashley hissed and she glanced over at her daughter who motioned for her to come nearer, "what's wrong with Nicky?"

"I don't know," Helen told her worriedly, "he just collapsed."

"That's weird," Ashley muttered scowling, "don't worry I'm sure he'll be fine, you know being immortal and all plus he's a Magnus and we're all fighters."

"I'm sure he will be fine," Helen agreed smiling half-heartedly at her daughter before moving back over to James, "do we know what's wrong with him yet?"

"No," James answered bluntly casting a concerned look in Nick's direction.

"I don't suppose there's any chance this could just be the flu or something?" Helen offered already knowing the answer.

"No, he's never been sick a day in his life," James informer her wistfully, "someone has done this to him, probably the Cabal."

"Didn't he mention something about being given truth serum?" Big Guy offered approaching them.

"But that makes no sense," James complained frowning deeply, "his physiology is different to that of a human, human drugs don't affect him the same way as humans or even effect him at all. Its why vampires can't get drunk."

"But the truth serum did effect him," Helen pointed out.

"The Cabal would have had to design a new drug," James explained, "specifically designed to effect his vampiric DNA and if they spent so much time working on that than I doubt it was only a truth serum they gave him."

"That doesn't make any sense," Nikola complained appearing beside them, "how would the Cabal even be able to make something like this? They'd need to have access to either source blood or someone affected by source blood, its not like us 3 or Nick or Ashley has been helping and John and Nigel are dead."

"Nigel had a daughter who inherited his power," Helen informed them, "and a granddaughter."

"Both of which died years ago," James announced, "how they did it doesn't matter, I need to go look at samples of Nick's blood."

"I'll help," Helen offered going to follow him but he stopped her.

"You have amnesia Helen," James pointed out, "you'll only get in the way."

Helen had to suppress a frustrated sigh as he stalked off while Nikola and Big Guy went back over to Nick's bedside, she sighed sadly feeling out of place there. Everything had changed; everything was different even though it was the same place and the same people. She felt out of place and useless in her own home, it was a horrible feeling. She should be the one checking blood samples to save her own son, not James.

She moved over to a chair in the corner and simply sat down, her eyes darting from one of her children to the other. Despite the worry nipping at her heels and the confusion clouding her brain, looking at them made her realize how much she missed being a mother, that was one of the good things about this… future, she could get close to Ashley again and get to know Nick, assuming of course the Cabal didn't kill one or both of them. How she despised the Cabal.

No one seemed to be in a talking mood, all eyes were turned to Nick who they watched silently; even Ashley had turned her head to gaze at her brother. Helen thought it was inappropriate to bring up conversation anyway but she was reminded of her fatigue once again, drowsiness numbed her thoughts and she felt herself slipping, slipping…

_"Great plan Will!" Nikola's voice was yelling sarcastically._

_"It's not that bad," Will's voice retorted defensively and Helen found herself yet again incapable of opening her eyes._

_"Say that to the bullet hole in my shoulder," Nikola snapped darkly._

_"It's a graze, it will heal," Will told him and she could sense the eye roll in his tone._

_"That's irrelevant," Nikola replied, "my point is that it was a stupid plan and now we're stuck down here with a comatose Helen and a city full of people ready to kill us and then there's Adam's-"_

"Helen?" James questioned, snapping her awake.

"Any news on Nick?" Helen asked worriedly reading the sorrowful expression on his face.

"He's dying."


	29. Opinions Divided

"What?" Helen gasped, failing not to gape in shock, "how can he be dying?"

"The toxin the Cabal gave him, the 'truth serum' doubles as a posion," James explained sadly.

"There has to be something we can do," Helen offered feeling her heart rate increase in rapid panic.

"No," James answered wistfully, "we can slow it but not stop it."

Helen was stunned more than anything and searched reluctantly for the truth in his eyes as he looked away with a more devestated look on his face than she had seen before, she swallowed nervously wondering whether she dared ask how long he had left.

"He has a few weeks, maybe a month left," James told her before she could speak, "at best estimate."

"There's really nothing we can do?" Helen repeated numbly.

"Yes there is," Nikola snapped striding over to them, "the Cabal did this to him, surely they can reverse it. I say we just keep killing them until somone gives us a cure."

"For once I agree with you," Big Guy grunted.

"Yeah and with my power it'll be easy yot go into their bases and take them out," Ashley added and Helen blinked having forgotten she was there.

"Well killing sprees are all well and good but it won't help him," James told them rolling his eyes frustratedly, "why would the Cabal poision him if they had a cure? Most likely they just want him out of the way so he doesn't interfer with the... super soldier army they're creating although I still don't know how they'd have access to the source blood necessary for study."

"What do you propose we do than?" Nikola yelled, "nothing? You're not the one losing another child!"

"That's not fair!" James spat, "you haven't even seen him in 12 years!"

"It's your fault anyway," Nikola informed them icily, "if you and Helen hadn't dragged him into your world than they wouldn't want him dead."

"Not helping Nikola," Big Guy muttered glaring at the vampire.

"He's waking up," Ashley pointed out.

They moved back over to Nick's bed and sure enough he was blinking open his brilliant blue eyes, which darted between the four of them with a blank expression on his face but Helen couldn't think of what to say, silence had gripped the room but she had yet again forgotten his powers.

"I'm dying aren't I?" he asked cautiously and Helen bit back a reply.

**_I'm psychic, remember?_**

"Yes, you're dying," Helen confirmed for him.

"Killing random people in the Cabal is not a good idea," Nick announced, the only indication that he was effected by the news of his death being how he shifted uncomfortably.

"Nick-"

"We need to find Montague," Nick continued ignoring them, "he's the only one who can help us destroy the Cabal for once and for all."

"Who is Montague?" Helen wondered.

"Forget destroying the Cabal, your life is more important," Nikola snapped firmly, "and I don't care if you think its a good idea or not."

"Montague's the one who... who..." Nick stumbled over the words looking vulnerable again, "who injected me with the truth serum."

"Firstly he died," James pointed out scowling, "and secondly why would he be of any use to us?"

"Because the Cabal are controlling him," Nick said as if it were obvious, "and he didn't die in the explosion."

"How can you be so sure he survived?" Big Guy grunted looking doubtful.

"He can teleport," Nick informed them and Helen could barely stop herself from gasping in shock, "he's Ashley's father."


	30. Debate

_Thanks so much to Akaylah for reviewing! :D _

_

* * *

_

"That is impossible," James pointed out slowly.

"He's kind of dead," Big Guy agreed.

"Yeah, I killed him before you were even born," Ashley added promptly.

"I don't know how or why but I saw Druitt in mom's memories and he _is _Montague," Nick told them firmly, "and we need to find him."

"We?" Nikola repeated frowning, "you are staying right there until we find a cure. Screw Johnny or Cabal, that is all that matters."

"But-"

"No buts," Nikola interrupted him, "you will rest and we will save you, once your're no longer dying we can get back to this Druitt thing? Okay?"

His expression softened slightly on the last word and he placed a comforting hand on Nick's shoulder who opened his mouth to reply but seemed to think better of it and just nodded. Nikola rose and headed out of the room followed by a reluctant Big Guy.

"I'm coming too!" Ashley exclaimed getting out of her bed and James went over to lend her a hand and follow Nikola, Helen glanced back at Nick with an apologetic look before going after the others as they went back to the room they'd been in before.

"Okay so for my plan I really only need Ashley," Nikola announced, "we teleport to Gideon Whitcomb's office and then take him back here to the Sanctuary, now our prisioner we torture him into giving us the cure. Comments?"

"That is the stupidest plan you have ever come up with," James informed him blandy.

"Yes, we are not torturing anyone Nikola," Helen agreed.

"You're opinion doesn't count," Nikola offered looking slightly aplogetic as Big Guy began cleaning up the mess on the floor.

"Why on Earth not?" Helen complained scowling at him.

"Because you have amnesia," Nikola answered, "and until you get your memory back you're pretty much useless."

"I'm still me," Helen protesting feeling hurt at the abashed looks from the others.

"Of course..." James agreed but trailed off, "but he is right Helen, you don't remember anything useful."

"Fine," Helen muttered turning away and leaving.

She sighed mournfully as she left the room but was forced to admit they did have a point even if it still felt unfair, she was again stuck with the gloomy feeling that she didn't belong here. She rubbed her still tired eyes and decided she needed some air, walking through the corridors was too depressing, she shouldn't feel so useless in her own Sanctuary.

Helen made her way up to the roof where she often went to reflect when she couldn't sleep or needed to think, it was either that or her bedroom and she didn't want to sleep again, not now. She made her way there easily through the familiar halls and climbed the welcoming steps only to find it was lashing with rain. She was about to leave when she noticed Nick was already there, positioned comfortably on the parapet leaning against the corner and staring at the city before them.

"It's raining," she pointed out, wrapping her arms around herself and walking towards him slowly.

"I like the rain," he replied not looking back at her.

"Shouldn't you be in bed resting?" she said instead slightly concerned for his health.

"Why?" he questioned, "I'm dying whether I'm stuck lying in bed or up here, and here has a much better view."

"It doesn't bother you that you're dying?" Helen inquired gazing at the view, her city had changed since she last remembered it much to her disappoinment.

"Of course it bothers me," Nick offered, "I've never really thought about it before, you know, being immortal and all. When you see people and abnormals die from wounds you instantly heal from all the time... you don't really think about your own death, especially consider I primarily interact with people who've lived for more than a century."

"Makes sense," Helen was forced to agree as she reached the parapet and placed her hands on it, taking a deep breath to inhale the crisp evening air.

"I guess I'll finally know the answer to the age old question of what happens after death," he continued closing his eyes.

"If you're tired go and sleep," Helen complained.

"I can sleep when I'm dead," he replied flicking his eyes back open again, "you're stuck with me here, its my favorite place."

"I used to love coming up here," she mused thoughtfully.

"I know," Nick whispered gently, "mom, I've been thinking."

"About?"

"Your memories," he told her and almost laughed, "think about it. Either this world or the one you remember is real and you're somehow caught in between them, like with that Guardian."

"Or it could just be the head injury talking," Helen shrugged not wanting to think about it when there were far worse concerns to deal with.

"What about how you die when you sleep and keep heairng Dad and Will?" Nick asked and she glanced back at him and saw he was being completely serious, "one of the worlds is real and I don't think its this one."

"Nick that is ridiculous," Helen told him firmly, "I have a head injury. I'm hallucinating and tired that is all, there isn't different worlds and all of this is real, you're telling me you're not real?"

"Does it matter whether one of the worlds is illusion or just a different reality?" Nick wondered, "what's important is getting you back to the real world or stopping you from dying in your sleep."

"I don't die in my sleep," Helen moaned brushing raindrops from her eyes, "even if your theory is real then how do you propose I get back to the real world?"

"By dying," Nick offered, "when you were dead breifly before you were waking up in the other world."

"Or I was hallucinating," Helen retorted more forcefully than she intended, "I'm not going to kill myself just because you think this might not be real. That is just crazy Nick."

"What if I'm right?" Nick asked in a whisper, "if you die in the fake world then you'll wake up in the real world but if you die in the real world than you'll be dead."

"Assuming you're right then, how do we tell which world is real?" Helen questioned looking back at him as he he just shrugged, "let's talk about something else than. Like John."

"I can't take him down by myself," Nick replied looking miserable as he brushed a few strands of damp hair from his eyes, "not since he's killed me and the others aren't going to help me."

"I will," Helen offered and it ellicited a slight smile from her son.

"That's all we need."


	31. Plans

"I take it you have a plan on how to capture John then?" Helen inquired curiously.

"Of course," Nick annouced, "come with me."

She swallowed nervously wondering what plan he could possibly have thought of and followed him back down the stairs, through the corridors and into the lab where he retrieved an odd oval shaped metallic device and put it down in front of her. Helen merely raised an eyebrow, clueless to what it was or what it did.

"It's a portable EM shield," he informed her as if were obvious, "he's a sitting duck if he can't teleport."

"And you designed this?" Helen gasped amazed as her son blushed with embarrasment.

"It was mostly James and you who made it," he offered shrugging nervously.

"If I ask James will he say that?" she wondered.

"Who made it is not important," Nick told her in a blatentl obvious attempt to change the subject, "what's important is that we can use it to capture Montague, John... whatever he calls himself."

"Okay," she muttered deciding to just let it drop, "so that's great but how to we actually find him?"

"With the help of your dear friend Kate Freelander," Nick offered.

"What makes you think she has any idea on how to find John?" Helen retorted feeling confused.

"Because Montague- John was asking about her and her alone," Nick answered firmly, "besides the Sweepers who shot me off the roof believed me to be dead. They had no idea I was a vampire or that John and the super soldiers were waiting for me thus someone else got him involved and the only other person who knew was..."

"Kate," she concluded, "impressive deducement."

"Learned from the best," Nick shrugged giving her a shy smile, "so we have to leave quickly before Dad and the others realize I am no longer in the infirmary."

"Okay," Helen agreed, "you take this thing to a van and bring it around while I grab us some weapons, assuming they're still in the same place as they were 21 years ago."

"They are," Nick confirmed, "wait, you're letting me drive?"

"You know the layout of the city better than I do and its not wise to drive with a head injury anyway," Helen replied as Nick smiled happily.

"You're the best," Nick announced grabbing the portable EM shield, "and don't worry, we won't end up like last time."

"What happened last time you drove?" Helen questioned suddenly concerned.

"Oh... its probably better I don't tell you," he replied hurrying away before she could reply, "gotta go, remember hurry!"


	32. Drives and Deals

"Slow down, you're driving far too fast," Helen complained scowling slightly, "I'm sure you're over the speed limit."

"I didn't realize this road had a speed limit," Nick muttered in reply.

"All roads have speed limits," she pointed out, "who taught you to drive anyway? A blind seralath?"

"You did actually," he informed her.

"Of course I did," she sighed.

"Don't worry, we're nearly there," he assured her, "then we just need to persuade Kate to help us call John, then we capture him and find a way to break him free of however the Cabal are controlling him."

"You make it sound so simple and so impossible all at the same time," Helen told him playfully.

"We do this sort of thing all the time, we'll be fine," Nick announced confidently.

"We do, don't we?" Helen mused frowning slightly, "do we ever do anything... I don't know, more normal?"

"No, our work is too important," Nick answered readily.

"Maybe Nikola's right," she muttered to herself regretfully, "in my memories I put my work before Ashley and it cost her her life and in this world I've basically gone and done the same with you."

"Everybody dies someday," he told her firmly, "and it was the Cabal who killed Ashley and the Cabal who killed me. What would you have us do anyway? Have us sit at home and... play... facepage? while you go out and save the world? We're not like that. I'd rather die now having lived a short life of good than live forever having done bleep all."

"I guess you have a point," Helen agreed thoughtfully.

"For my 18th birthday we were going to have the week off," Nick said quietly, "you said for once we wouldn't spend it trapped in a cave or stuck on a sinking ship. You said we'd do a 'normal' activity for a change, take the whole week off."

"When is your birthday?" she asked curiously.

"Decemeber 18th, a week before Christmas," he answered, "not that it matters, it'll never happen now."

"Maybe there is a cure that John can lead us too," she offered hopefully, actually wishing it were so.

"We're here," Nick announced finally pulling them to a hault at Kate's building.

They exited the vehicle and went to the back, pulling open the van doors and retrieving the stunners and the portable EM shield. It was still raining which she hoped wouldn't interfere with the shield in any way.

**_It won't_**

**_Please, warn me before you do that_**

**_We need to speak like this, that way Kate or John won't be able to hear us_**

**_Useful_**

He nodded mildly and led them into the apartment block, which unsurprisingly seemed as dilapidated as the rest of the city. Grafitti was rife and it stank of stale urine, she was surprised that Kate chose to live in such a dump but then she supposed it was nondescript. She still disliked it.

"Miss Freelander!" Nick called rapping on the door, "open up, we're from the city pest control service, had a few reports of diseased roaches in this complex and we'll need to talk to you."

**_Pest control?_**

**_Just go with it_**

"About time someone came to deal with them!" Kate exclaimed opening the door before her eyes widened in shock as she saw them, she went to close the door but Nick barged his way in anyway.

"May we come in?" he asked sarcastically as she backed away and glanced towards a glock lying on a nearby table, "you know I'll reach it faster, don't bother."

"What the hell do you want?" Kate barked glaring between the two of them, "and don't say to be friends because I prefer to work alone vamp boy."

**_Mom close the door_**

"We actually just want your help to get in touch with someone," Nick explained while Helen closed the door behind them.

"Not exactly my department," Kate complained, "try putting an ad in the newspaper or something."

"I believe he goes by Montague at the moment," Nick continued and Kate gave him a blank expression.

"I don't know anyone named that," Kate answered steadily.

"Really? You're going to lie to a psychic?" Nick retorted raising an eyebrow.

**_Maybe she doesn't know him as Montague_**

**_She does_**

"Why are you so interested in him?" Kate questioned looking puzzled, "you guys are wack jobs."

"Do you want to die?" Helen asked rhetorically knowing it would make her think, her friend may not know her but she still knew how Kate thought, "maybe we'll even throw in some payment as a reward for co-operation."

"How much?" Kate demanded instantly.

"Depends if you know him," Nick answered cryptically.

"You obviously know that I do," she retorted irritably, "so what do I have to do?"

"Get him to come here and we'll handle the rest," Helen told her, "if this goes down without incident than you will be rewarded for your services."

"Deal," Kate agreed.


	33. Capture

Helen let out a calming breath in readiness for John's arrival, Kate was calling him now and Nick had set up the portable EM shield in Kate's characteristically messy front room while she waited with a stun gun. She was surprisingly nervous about the whole thing, she had no idea what to expect of John in "this" world espeically one apparently brainwashed by the Cabal.

"Okay, he's on his way," Kate announced putting down her cell, "but I wouldn't recommened using your little stunny guns, they wear off pretty quickly."

"It wasn't on high voltage," Nick pointed out.

"I still think you'd be better off just whacking him on the back of a head," Kate told him shrugging, "and besides, you're a vampire just kick his butt back and snap his neck."

"We don't want him dead," Helen complained.

"Don't want who dead?" John asked from behind her.

Despite herself Helen nearly yelped in surprise as she turned to face him, he unsurprisingly had not aged since she had last seen him but his last encounter with Nick had scarred his face even worse, five raw red slash marks marred him across the face. As opposed to his usual long leather coat he was wearing armor akin to the Sweeper's.

"John," Helen muttered trying not to gape at him while Nick hit the top of the portable EM shield, presumably activating it.

"No you must have me mistaken, my name is Montague," John told her with a fake smile which turned to a scowl, "why can't I teleport? What have you done to me? Damn you Freelander!"

**_Now_**

"Sorry Monty," Kate apologized as Helen pulled the trigger of the stun gun.

John grimaced in pain but pulled a knife from his pocket and flicked open the switchblade, silently she cursed his resistance to stunners and tried again but it had pretty much the same effect of nothing.

Behind him she saw Nick roll his eyes before grabbing a lamp of the table and striking John with it, who immediately collapsed onto the floor. She shot him a disapporving look and knelt to check for a pulse which she found, steady and strong.

**_What? He's just unconcious_**

"I told you it'd be better just to whack him," Kate pointed out moodily.

**_You still shouldn't have hit him_**

**_You're mad at me for knocking him out when he has actually killed me?_**

"Can you guys please stop that whole telepathic talking thing?" Kate complained pouting.

"Stop whining," Nick told her kneeling beside her.

**_Check out the back of his neck, a Y incision just like from your world_**

Helen turned her attention back to John and glanced at the back of his neck, sure enough was a y scar almost exactly like she had seen on her father, Will and Danny when she'd operateed to remove the insect controllers.

"So when are you guys going to pay me?" Kate asked raising an eyebrow at them.

"After we get him back to the Sanctuary," Helen told her firmly.

**_I don't know if we should yet_**

**_Why?_**

**_Have you read Dad's thoughts lately? He wants to kill John if he sees him_**

**_You're only telling me this now?_**

"You don't really expect to get him back to your Sanctuary with the Sweepers about do you?" Kate questioned scowling, "besides you realize all of their pet projects have GPS? They will get suspicious."

"Neither of you thought to mention this until now?" Helen complained glancing between the pair of them.

**_I didn't know_**

**_What's your plan now then genius junior?_**

**_Operate on him here then when he's sane he can teleport us to the Sanctuary_**

"You cannot be serious!" Helen exclaimed.

"Have you got a better idea?" Nick asked growing his claws and cutting across the Y incision.

"What's your idea?" Kate questioned.

"Not now Kate," Helen snapped at her before sighing and leaning down to look at the bug nestled inside John, "okay if I am going to do this then I need the closest thing you have to surgical equiptment Kate and we need to sterilize it, a magnifying glass would be useful and we need as much light in this room as possible."

"You guys are insane," Kate pointed out gaping at them, "you want to cut out his neck? Here?"

"We're saving him," Helen corrected her, "and yes here. Now if you want to get paid then go and get what I need from your kitchen."

"What about the Sweepers?" Kate wondered, "they'll be here soon."

"Then you best hurry," Nick offered smiling.

"You guys are nuts!" Kate comaplained stalking out into the kitchen, "seriously!"


	34. Sanity

Helen frowned and concentrated on what she was doing, it was a tricky procedure anyway and it didn't help she was using blunt kitchen utensils in place of surgical tools while Nick's idea of giving her light was to blind her.

_**Sorry**_

_**Nick, please stop reading my mind  
**_

_**Sorry  
**_

_**And stop saying sorry  
**_

_**Me paenitet**_

She shot him a frustrated look but he repositioned the light slightly for which she was grateful, it didn't help the unrelenting thundering of her heart however. Taking a deep breath she mentally prepared herself for the final cut, which would either save or kill John. Nick placed a hand on her arm and calmness flooded through her instantly, without hesitation she snipped the final pinsr and pulled the insect from his neck.

"Gross," Kate commented from nearby, "you don't think the Cabal has implanted me with one of those things do you?

"No," Nick told her holding an empty jar for her to put it into.

"How can you tell?" Kate questioned as Helen began stitching John up.

"If the Cabal were controlling you then you'd be less annoying," Nick explained gazing curioiusly at the insect, "besides its hard for them to create these creatures, the brainwashing takes months and they're a vary rare, very almost extinct species."

"Thanks," Kate offered sarcastically, "and since when did you become an expert in bugs?"

"It's a sentient being and I'm psychic," Nick explained as if it were obvious.

"Why didn't you just tell it to get out of John's neck?" Helen asked curiously finishing with John and glancing at her son.

"I can communicate with it," Nick told them rolling his eyes, "not control it."

"It's a bug!" Kate exclaimed while Helen noticed John groaning slightly.

"Help me get him up onto the couch," Helen said to Kate.

Somewhat reluctantly Kate came over and helped Helen pull John onto the couch, she would have asked Nick to help her but she was concerned since he was dying although she didn't entirely trust this Kate either, after all she had wanted to kill her not too long ago. She suppressed a sigh and helped get John comfortable, hoping he would be okay.

_**I could have helped and don't worry about Kate, her thoughts run in dollar signs**_

"Wha-where am I?" John muttered sleepily as he came to, wincing and putting a hand to his head where Nick had hit him.

"It's okay John, you're safe," Helen told him gently.

"Hel-Helen?" John said groggily scowling at her, "I don't understand… the Cabal…"

"So will he remember what happened to him with that badass bug controlling him or what?" Kate questioned in her usual blunt manner.

"I remember Kate," John announced firmly, "its just weird… I feel… I feel like myself again."

"That's because Mom saved your life," Nick informed him bluntly jumping up and starting to pack away the portable EM shield, "now we all need to get back to the Sanctuary ASAP."

_**Give him a minute Nick, he's been under the Cabal's control for awhile  
**_

_**We need to move before they find us**_

_**You should be able to sense if people are coming  
**_

_**We're in an apartment block, there's too many people around to differentiatebetween newcomers and residents  
**_

_**Isn't the EM shield still up at the Sanctuary?  
**_

_**I told James to disable it**_

_**James is in on this?  
**_

_**Of course  
**_

_**Thanks for telling me!  
**_

_**I assumed you knew, hasn't he always been on your side?**_

"The Cabal are planning something big," John blurted out worriedly, "they're building an army of these abnormals they've created."

"Sweet," Kate offered cheerfully.

"Make yourself useful and bring us some tea," Helen commanded of Kate and she moodily went to obey, "assuming you can find it in this pigsty."

"So how did you survive being killed?" Nick asked of John and he seemed to notice her son for the first time before looking away guiltily.

"I'm sorry," John apologized sounding utterly sincere, "I am really sorry Nick."

"It's okay," Nick muttered taking a seat opposite them.

"There isn't a cure, is there?" Helen guessed sadly.

"No," John said wistfully, "I'm sorry Helen."

"Don't be," Nick offered blandly, "she has amnesia. Now you were telling us about the Cabal, the soldiers, and about how you're alive right now."

"The source blood," John answered glancing between them, "vampires have regenerative powers, like the ability to heal from injuries that would kill regular humans. They used that ability to literally revive the dead, bring me back to life and then they used… this insect, put it into my neck and then… I lost control of my actions, it's like watching yourself in a dream but you can't wake up."

"Tea," Kate announced sounding incredibly bored as she carried in a tray with the tea and placed it in front of them, "I figured the non-Brits among us would prefer soda. There ya go vamp boy."

With that she grabbed one of the cans and threw it to Nick who easily caught it then stopped to frown, he gazed at the can for a minute until he seemed not to be seeing it at all as his eyes turned dark and vampiric.

"It's just a soda," Kate pointed out opening hers and taking a few gulps.

"Shush," Nick whispered closing his eyes then flicking them open again, "Sweepers. We have to leave now."

Helen opened her mouth to reply that he was wrong when the door burst open and the Sweepers rushed in.


	35. Still Divided

"For the last time Nikola," James interjected suppressing a frustrated sigh, "we are not kidnapping the president to torture him into information."

"You said yourself he is Cabal!" Nikola snapped glaring at him.

"That doesn't give us the right to torture people," James pointed out tiredly, he'd forgotten how stubborn Nikola could be.

"Helen and Nick would never approve of that anyway," Big Guy agreed.

"So what? She has amnesia and he's only 17," Nikola retorted, "as long as he lives, who cares if he and Helen approve?"

"That reminds me I should check on them," Big Guy announced standing to leave, "they're both probably mad for being shut out of the decision making. Actually I'm half surprised neither have came in here to argue with us."

"Why?" Ashley questioned.

"They're not exactly good at sitting down and doing nothing," Biy Guy answered with a fond smile, "try not to kill each other while I'm gone."

"Wait, I'll come with you," Nikola offered to his mild surprise and rose to follow Big Guy.

James almost opened his mouth to say they didn't need to check on them but thought better of it, it would look even more suspicious. He simply sighed and took a seat opposite Ashley, he'd deactivated the EM shield but had hoped Nick and had Helen would have returned with John by now. He rubbed his eyes worriedly, maybe letting an amnesiac and a dying vampire capture Jack the Ripper was not the best idea he had ever had.

"Feels good to be home and sane again," Ashley commented quietly and he glanced back up at her, still not entirely trustful of her.

"If you want to stay here you should stop agreeing with Nikola," James complained scowling at her.

"Is it so wrong I want to save my little brother's life?" Ashley retorted and he felt the need to roll his eyes.

"There's nothing we can do to save him," James pointed out yet again, "especially not by torturing and killing random members of the Cabal. "

"That is entirely unfai-"

Ashley was cut off by the arrival of Henry who burst excitedly into the room, "you guys! You guys! You have to see this!"

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Ashley questioned raising an eyebrow at him.

"Argh! Its Ashley, she's going to kill us all!" Henry screamed terrified.

"It's okay!" James told him firmly, "Nick cured her but now is not a good time Henry."

"Henry?" Ashley gasped gaping, "what the hell happened to him?"

"He took the surgery to rid himself of his werewolf side," James explained quickly.

"Why would he do that?" she wondered still looking bewildered.

"He figured if you could snap then he could too," James answered sharpish, "now Henry, what is it?"

"You need to err... she is a murder James, a bad dangerous murderer," Henry began but got distracted and edged towards James.

"Henry please, just tell me what you wanted," James pleaded tiredly.

"Just err.. turn on the TV," Henry whispered, "its on the news right now."

"What's on the news?" James asked feeling his patience wearing thin before casting a look at a guilt ridden Ashley.

"Just look..." Henry whined nodding towards the inactive television in the corner as James reluctantly reached for the remote and flicked it on.

"James! Where the hell is my son?" Nikola's voice boomed as he burst back into the room.

"How would I know?" he asked distractedly searching the channels for the news.

"Because you know him," Nikola snapped.

"Better than you, you mean?" James retorted darkly, "try the roof."

"He's not there," Big Guy complained, "he and Helen have gone to capture John haven't they?"

"Yes," James agreed finding the channel and gaping in shock.

"Why are you watching television at a time like this?" Nikola demanded.

"Look for yourselves," James offered increasing the volume, "Nick was right, super soldier abnormals. President Gideon Whitcomb has just unveiled his army."

A second later a flash of light appeared with John in the center holding a limp woman he didn't recognize. He looked injured and glanced at them groggily, they barely had time to register their surprise before he passed out cold.


	36. Waking

"Holy shit," muttered Ashley gaping open mouthed at her 'deceased' father who remained in a crumpled heap on the ground.

"I thought he was dead?" Henry mused unhelpfully.

"Nick was right," Big Guy stated, "Druitt lives."

Nikola himself could only join them in gaping, he'd far to worried about his son's imminent death to really digest the fact he claimed John lived but then hear he appeared in a flash of light and fell to the ground with some random woman. He had heard the news that John had died and always just accepted it as fact, it was shocking that that was not true. Bitterly he noted that if Ashley had killed her father as well as her sister than they probably wouldn't be in this mess.

James was the first to react and knelt awkwardly, because of his leg braces and checked their once friend for a pulse. Nikola considered helping him but decided against it, he was still mad over James' helping Nick and Helen leave, neither of which should be running around in their condition.

"They're both alive," James announced getting up awkwardly, "we need to get them both to the infirmary."

"Why is Druitt and the pretty lady sleeping on the floor?" Henry asked curiously.

"I won't know until we get them to the infirmary," James answered searching their faces, "can we please stop gawking now? Ashley a little help would be nice."

"Fine," Ashley agreed moodily and knelt to teleport them to the infirmary, teleporting away immediately.

"I'd like to know who that woman was," James muttered half to himself.

"Kate," Big Guy told them gruffly, "Kate Freelander."

"Sounds made up," Nikola complained dryly.

"I know but its not, Helen mentioned her earlier," Big Guy explained, "in her non existant memories they were friends, or something."

"Done," Ashley announced returning in another flash of light much to Nikola's chagrin, while the energy elemental seemed to be the cause of her insanity he still found it hard to trust her.

"If Helen and Nick went after him," Nikola began thoughtfully and scowled as a worrying thought dawned on him, "then where are they?"

* * *

_"What have they done to her?" her father's voice boomed worriedly, Helen longed to smile and hug him relieved that she'd finally found him but again she was incapable of movement._

_"We have no idea Mister Magnus," Will's voice anwered politely._

_"Please, call me Gregory," her father offered kindly._

_"You lived with these cryptically secretive psycopaths for years and you're saying you have no idea what they have done, to your own daughter to send her into some kind of comatose state?" Nikola complained._

_"I wish I did," her father offered sighing heavily._

_"Did I ever tell you that you were useless?" Nikola asked sardonically._

_"Yes, I'm pretty sure you have," her father told him tiredly, "have I ever told you that you're selfish, arrogant and beyond irritating?"_

_"Both of you please, this isn't helping," Will interjected._

_"You're right," her father agreed, "I apogize Nikola_."

"Mom? Please wake up," Nick's voice sliced through the others and she snapped open her eyes to see only murky blackness, "sleep dying is so not fun."

"I'm awake," Helen moaned as it occured to her that she was lying on her side and that her hands were bound behind her back, hasilty she struggled into a sitting position and leaned against a sold wall behind her.

"Finally," Nick muttered sounding exhausted, "it's about time."

* * *

"Halothane," James announced and Nikola raised an eyebrow.

"They're unconcious because of knock out gas?" Nikola repeated rubbing his eyes.

"Yes," James confirmed, "which suggests the Sweepers, they've been known to use it on large numbers of people so they cannot escape such as at night parties. They then proceed to shoot the unconcious dead while the sleep."

"You don't think-" Nikola began feeling panicked before Ashley repearred before them.

"Searched Freelander's apartment and there are definately signs of a struggle but no bodies and no sign of Mom or Nicky," Ashley informed them before holding up a jar containing a curious looking insect, "I did however find this."

"A bug? Didn't realize you were in the buissness of pest control," Nikola barked at her unimpressed.

"It may be useful actually," James mused, "there's an incision at the back of John's neck and I found traces of an unknown insect inside the wound."

"Gross," Ashley exclaimed wrinkling her nose in disgust, "why would someone put a bug in his neck?"

"I don't know and I don't care," Nikola told them, "all that matters is finding Helen, Nick and the cure."

"For all we know they could be on their way back here now," Ashley pointed out handing James the jar to inspect.

"Their disappearance, John, Freelander, this bug, the Cabal... they're all connecte," James informed them, "the only way to find Helen and Nick is to connect the dots."

"We should be out there right now searching the streets for them!" Nikola yelled venting his frustraition.

"All that will do is waste time!" James protested.

"Nick is still dying! We're wasting time right now," Nikola snapped.

"Then go run around aimlessly while I concentrate on something useful while we wait for our guests to wake up," James offered seeming to force his voice to calm.

"Sure, its not like you're losing your son and the love of your life," Nikola snarled venomously.

"Then maybe you shouldn't disappear for 12 years!" James retorted darkly.

Nikola was about to scream a reply but stopped himself, James was right. He shouldn't have left, he shouldn't be running around on the streets aimlessly and he certainly shouldn't be halting all work to save his family by venting his frustration at James. Deep down he was just afraid of losing the only people who really mattered to him, he felt his anger draining away and he looked away abashed.

"I've already lost Patty," Nikola said quietly not looking up at James or Ashley, "I can't lose them too."

"I know," James sighed moving over to Nikola and placing a comforting hand on his shoulder, a gesture of friendship from ages past, "we will find them and I promise you we will do everything possible to save Nick's life."

"Hey guys, he's waking up," Ashley hissed and their attention hastily shifted back to John who was groggily blinking open his eyes.

"Where are they?" Nikola demanded instantly rushing to his side, "where is Helen? Where is my son? Answer me you Cabal loving bastard!"

"Give him some air," James pointed out and John gave him a grateful look.

"The Cabal," John croaked looking at them both apologetically, "the Cabal took them, Nick told me to save the girl before I fell unconciouss and that he'd go with them to find Helen. I'm sorry, my actions have not been my own for a long time but now I have regained my sanity and I offer to help recover Helen and Nick in any way I can."

"Welcome to the club," Ashley offered sarcastically.


	37. Opinions United

"So where are-" Helen began but Nick interrupted her.

"In a cell in some Cabal base," he answered, "I don't know where."

"Okay so what hap-"

"Sweepers used knock out gas," Nick interrupted her again, "you got caught, John and Kate got away and I faked unconciousness so I could find out where you were."

"Can you just not-"

"Read your mind?" he interrupted again, "I'm sorry, my powers have just been crazy since we got here."

"Why?" Helen asksed curiously but Nick seemed unconcerned and merely shrugged without opening his eyes.

"So every time you're unconcious or you fall asleep your mind dies and then you can hear people talking from your world," Nick said instead.

"We have slightly more pressing concerns right now then whatever's wrong with me," Helen complained.

"Mom please just entertain me okay?" Nick retorted finally opening his eyes and meeting her gaze, "but when you actually died and Dad revived you, you were waking up in your world. The more I think about it the more I am sure that one of these worlds is real and the other is not, I think you have to die in the fake world to stay in the real world."

"And you think that this is the 'fake' world?" Helen wondered not truly buying his theory.

"Yes," he answered honestly.

"You want me to kill myself," Helen said slowly.

"It will work and then you'll wake up in Hollow Earth with Will, Dad and Grampa," Nick explained as if it were simple.

"Do you realize that if I kill myself in this world and its not the fake world then I'll just be dead?" Helen asked of him, "I'm sorry Nick but I'm not going to bet my life on something that may or may not be real."

"If I'm right and you don't wake up soon then something bad could happen, clearly you guys are in trouble down there," Nick retorted firmly.

"And what if you're wrong?" Helen questioned.

"I'm pretty sure I'm not," he replied seriously.

"To err is human," Helen pointed out.

"And I'm not human," Nick snapped flashing his vampiric eyes and fangs for good measure.

"Why are you so pushing this so much?" Helen remarked turning away from him in frustration.

"Because I'm dying," he whispered sadly and she looked back to him, "I'm dying and I have so little time to make things right. I used to be immortal and now I have a few days, maybe, left to tie up all the loose ends."

"James said you had maybe a month," Helen pointed out.

"He's being over optimistic," Nick replied meeting her eyes again as they shifter back to blue, "I can feel the poison killing me, I don't even know if I'll last a day. Certainly not a month and I can't go without doing everything in my power to a)stop the Cabal and b)figure out what's wrong with you and everything I know is telling me that I'm right."

"And it doesn't bother you that nothing you know may be real?" Helen asked quietly.

"It's real to me but not to you," Nick expained gently closing his eyes again, "ultimately its up to you whether you belong here or not but... forget it, you're right we should concentrate on getting out of here."

* * *

_"This army of perfected Super Soldiers are the beginning of a new age," President Gideon Whitcomb announced, "a better age, a golden age for my country and mankind. With these beings we can successfully crush anyone who dares attack my country and wipe out any who oppose such a great and mighty nation. They are far faster and far stronger than any human and no man, woman or ab- anyone, who we may come across. Sleep safe my people for the age of the Cab- the Golden age of mankind has begun."  
_

Big Guy shook his head and flicked off the televison despite Henry's protests, he had no desire to listen to the self-righteous psychopath rant when he could be checking on the others. In truth he realized he probably shouldn't have left them alone in case Nikola, Ashley, James and John decided to kill each other, which would not please Helen or Nick very much. He sighed sadly as he made his way through the corridors, missing the days of the past when all he'd have to worry about was kepping Nick and Patty out of trouble while the others rescued abnormals in need, not now when the Cabal was on the verge of global domination and half his friends were dead, he was too old for all this.

He reached the infimary and saw them gathered around John who appeared to be awake and approached caustiously not trusting him, after all he was Jack the Ripper and he had potentially murdered Nick.

"So how did you survive?" Ashley was saying curiously.

"You stabbed me to death, correct?" John asked of her to which she nodded.

"It'd not like you gave me a choice, _Dad,_" she replied moodily.

"Vampires heal from such things or else they wouldn't be immortal and I happen to have been injected with vampire blood," John explained, "the Cabal somehow activated the regerative properties of my blood to resurrect me."

"Clearly the regenerative powers didn't last very long," Nikola pointed out indicating the fresh set of scars Nick had given him.

"It didn't have to," John replied, "it just had to last long enough to save my life. They wanted me to join them and when I refused they used that wretched bug."

"Couldn't we use that technology on Nick?" Ashley wondered excitedly, "wait for him to die then bring him back, then he'd actually be an undead vampire."

"No, its been specifically designed not to be cured by his vampiric intolerance," John continued regretfully.

"Well do you at least know where the Cabal would have taken them?" James questioned, "rescuing them is number one on my list."

"No sadly I have no idea," John answered sadly.

"I do," a new voice offered and they all turned startled to the second bed with Freelander smirking at them.

"And why would you help us?" Big Guy asked suspicious of her.

"Well the Magnus' are the ones who said they'd pay me," she told them, "if they're captives then how am I supposed to get my money? I say we grab as many guns as you guys have then go and freakin' storm the place."

"I like her," Ashley offered brightly, "I'll get the guns."

"Oh come on we're trusting the word of a captive?" Nikola complained, "she's Cabal for crying out loud."

"It's not like we have a choice," Big Guy sighed.


	38. Plans Awry

_Thanks so so much to athannah, Akaylah and melissaadams22 for reviewing!_

_

* * *

_

"Any idea how we're going to get of here?" Helen asked of Nick as she surveyed the cell they were in, she saw no windows or vents or anything and the steel door was firmly closed and apart from that there was nothing in the cell besides them.

"Hmm?" Nick mused and flicked open his eyes again.

"Do you have any idea on how we're going to get out of here?" she repeated and he shut his eyes and leaned back again.

_**Wait for someone to come for us then overpower them and run for it**_

"Wait for someone to come for us then overpower them and run for it," Nick spoke and thought at the same time much to her confusion.

"Why did you do that?" she questioned frowning at him.

"Do what?" Nick wondered.

"Communicate with me orally and telepathically at the same time," Helen explained wondering whether he was doing it on purpose or not.

"I don't know," he sighed shrugging.

"Are you okay?" she asked worriedly.

"Okey dokey mom," he muttered sleepily.

"Come on Nick, I need you to focus," Helen pleaded with him.

"I'm focused," he insisted half opening his eyes again.

"How are we going to overpower the guards?" Helen wondered, she doubted they could do it handcuffed, especially if they decided to send super soldiers.

_**I can break the handcuffs, want me to do yours?**_

"I can break the handcuffs," Nick snapped defensively and thought at the same time again before yanking his wrists apart, easily breaking the metal, "want me to do yours?"

"Sure," Helen agreed turning her back towards him where he snapped the chain and pulled away the handcuffs, "thank you."

"I'm sorry," Nick apologized suddenly while Helen rubbed her wrists.

"For what?" she wondered aloud.

"Getting us trapped here," he explained wistfully, "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it," she told him with a smile, "everyone's plans go awry sometimes."

_**Someone's coming**_

"Someone's coming," Nick hissed hurriedly, "a woman and 5 guards, 2 human and 2 super soldiers. Slightly annoyed but mostly arrogant, confident and pleased with herself. Humans are bored and hungry. Abnormals too erratic to tell."

"Okay," Helen said slowly before the door opened and the newcomers walked in.

Just as Nick had predicted a woman stood in the centre of the five guards dressed up in Cabal armour surrounding her, her who made Helen's blood boil angrily despite the fact Ashley's death had never happened in this reality. She may be older and from a different time but Helen still recognized and hated Dana Whitcomb with a fury.

"Helen, Nikola," she greeted them, "its nice to finally meet you both."

"Go to hell," Nick snapped, "and I prefer Nick."

"I trust you're both enjoying your stay," Dana questioned ignoring Nick's remark.

"Your decor could use some work," Helen pointed out failing not to glare.

"What is wrong with your thoughts?" Nick demanded and she glanced at him notcing he was shivering, "they're shielded and swirling and swirling and swirling. Why are they doing that?"

"Both of you hush, I'm the one asking the questions," Dana annoucned firmly, "and I would like to know where you have taken my assets."

"Aww did your GPS fail you? You stupid bleeping bleep," Nick answered closing his eyes again, "you're insane if you think we're telling you anything."

"I'm guessing they're probably at the Sanctuary?" Dana guessed.

"We don't even know what you're talking about," Helen answered cryptically.

_**Are you okay?**_

_**My head hurts, I thought it was just you but its not. I'm focused, don't worry I'm focused**_

"Give us back our assets and we'll talk about the cure for Nick," Dana offered, "by now you must have realized your son is dying."

"Is there a cure?" Helen asked suddenly hopeful.

_**The code to close the door is 4-8-7-1-2-2-5**_

_**What?**_

_**There's a keypad on the other side which closes the cell door, if we can get past them and shut then we have a few minutes to get away before they open it from this side**_

"I said we'll talk about it only after my assets have been returned to me," Dana replied forcefully.

_**On the count of 3 run to the door**_

"I want to talk about it now," Helen retorted equally firmly.

_**Are you ready?**_

_**No**_

_**Three!**_

Frustrated with Nick she launched herself forward regardless, for some reason the three abnormals remained motionless while Nick jumped and kicked the gun from the closest man's hands and knocked him out with it before joining her at the door while she hurriedly keyed in the code.

"Stop them!" Dana screamed at the still motionless abnormals while the remaining human fired at them, the door slammed closed barely in time to stop them.

"How in the world did you make the abnormals do that?" Helen asked half laughing delightedly before she saw Nick was still shivering.

"With difficulty," he answered, "now come on, we must hurry. Left or right?"

"Err... left," Helen offered and they immiedately bolted down the left corridor while around them the lights started to flash red and a siren rang out to her surprise Nick shrieked and put his hands to his ears but carried on running, they rounded a bend and ran straight into some people.

Panicked they both jumped back expecting it to be Sweepers or super soldier abnormals but was instead facing Nikola, James, Big Guy, Ashley and Kate much to her immense surprise and relief.

"Brilliant, we found you!" James exclaimed pulling Nick into a hug.

"Its so great to see you," Nick affirmed.

"What have you done now?" Nikola wondered shaking his head despite the relief plastered on his features.

"Who cares we should leave now," Ashley announced loudly over the sound of the sirens.

"No, this is the Cabal's base," Nick replied, "we should blow it up while we're here, we have to destroy this place or we'll never stop them."

"We should leave," James told him, "come back when we're stronger and when their aren't a bunch of people chasing after you."

"It won't take long," Nick insisted.

"Look out!" Big Guy yelled and she and Nick turned to see Dana catching up to them with her remaining human guard and trio of abnormals who seemed to have regained the power of movement.

All too quickly the guns were fired, she tried to duck out of the way of the incoming path of bullets as did everyone besides Nick who fired the gun he still held back at the Cabal. The sirens screamed in her ears but out of the corner of her eye she saw James knocked back into the wall, a shocked look on his face as he slid to the ground leaving a trail of crimson on the wall.

Ashley grabbed Kate and Big Guy and teleported quickly away in a whisp of golden light while Nick was a good shot and the Cabal were either dead or had dropped their guns, clutching at injuries by the time he turned back to James and with a horrified look on his face knelt beside him.

"James? James? Are you okay?" he asked frantically but blood was pooling from his chest, the bullets seemed to have narrowly missed his life support or else he'd be dying of old age like he had once before, despite having seen this happening before she had to fight the tears forming in her eye.

Helen failed to stop the tears that spilled from her eyes once more as she and Nikola exhanged a sorrowful, helpless look for the second time she could remember. Nick was opening crying and clutching at James' hand, it looked like they were speaking telepathically.

"You both I shall miss," James said weakly while glancing at her and Nikola for the first time.

"No," Nick whined, "come on uncle James, fight. You have to fight, come on don't give up," he begged, "you can't die, stop. Don't give up."

James turned back to him sypmathetically and opened his mouth to speak but it quickly closed along with eyes that would never open again.

Nick's scream of 'no' was the last thing she heard before Ashley's grabbed her and Nikola and teleported them back to the Sanctuary.


	39. Unexpected Aftermath

_Thank you so much to Akaylah, melissaadams22 and athannah for reviewing! Yes it was necessary to kill James but for the record I do love him, he's such a great character and I wished he never died but it actually was necessary in this story, I deeply apologize and also don't worry I haven't given up or anything you've just caught up on what I'd already written so updates may be slightly slower_

_

* * *

_Ashley teleported instantly back into the Cabal's base to retrieve her half-brother, she saw him still crying over James' body and suppressed a melancholy sigh, despite everything that had happened she still cared a lot for James. She opened her mouth to tell Nick that they had to go before she noticed a faint bleeping, a different pitch to the thunderous siren still blasting around them and traced it to the Cabal who had shot at them, who had murdered James.

She saw that most of them were already dead but surprisingly the living ones were trying desperately to crawl away from their deceased comrades, Dana Whitcomb had vanished but the guards remained and oddly their armor was flashing in timing with the beeping she heard. Ashley hadn't had much or any experience really with the Cabal for quite some time but vaguely seemed to recall hearing something about their armor... exploding.

"Nick!" she cried but all too late.

The Cabal armor exploded outwards with a deafening boom to put the siren to shame, the screams of the surviving Cabal guards being vaporized along with themselves at the force of the blast incinerating all in its path. That was the last thing Ashley remembered as she tried to reach Nick and transport them to safely all at the same time, whether she succeeded or not she didn't know.

* * *

"So how did it go?" John questioned them from a nearby bed and Helen nearly jumped not having expected to see him there awake yet handcuffed.

"Not well," Nikola snapped.

"We lost James," Big Guy grunted sadly to which John's eyes widened in shock.

"Like lost as in lost or lost as in-"

"Lost as in dead," Nikola interrupted bitterly, "your Cabal buddies murdered him."

"They're not my buddies," John protested giving the back of Nikola's head a slight glare, "I told you, you should have let me go."

"You're the one who tried to murder my son," Nikola pointed out, "no one trusts you and no one likes you and if you weren't slightly useful to saving Nick's life then we would have kicked you out by now."

"Could say the same about you," Big Guy muttered under his breath.

"Arguing is helping no one," Helen told them tiredly wishing that they would not be at each other's throats for at least a minute, "I think that-"

_"Argh! my leg!" her father's echoy voice cried out in pain suddenly._

"Father? What's wrong? Where are you?" Helen questioned worriedly as swaying unsteadily on her feet while struggling to keep her eyes open.

_"Damn you old man," Nikola's voice grumbled, "give me your hand come on."_

"What are you talking about?" Helen asked trying to glance at the vampire but failing and instead losing her balance before someone caught her.

_"There's too many of them, just go on without me," Gregory was saying, "just save my daughter, this is all my fault anyway."_

_"No way," Nikola laughed, "Helen will never forgive me if I let you die."_

_"I don't know if she's ever going to wake up Nikola," he said sadly._

"Father I'm awake!" she screamed at him but couldn't bring herself to open her eyes, "I'm here father! I'm here! I'm awake! Father! Nikola! Answer me damn you!"

"You're father's dead," Nikola whispered gently, "he died a long time ago, went missing remember?"

She snapped open her eyes as the echos vanished left with the infirmary she was still in, still in the crisp clear reality. Or was it? She blinked a few times and stared at the faces staring at her with a mixture of concern and dubation save Nikola had been the one to catch her and was half holding her.

"Are you okay Helen?" John asked slowly.

"I don't- I don't know," she answered anxiously while standing up carefully with Nikola's support, "it's never happened to me while I was awake before... Maybe Nick's right."

"Do you need to lie down?" Big Guy offered.

"No I'm fine," she told them with a forced smile and sudden desire to talk to Nick, "I'm fine, we need to focus on Ashley getting Nick back."

"Speaking of which, shouldn't they be back by now?" Kate pointed out.

* * *

Nick groaned and opened his crusty eyes drearily, if his whole body wasn't aching he would almost want to go back to unconsciousness but sleeping would have to wait until he died. The silence was soothing he noted as a positive, the ear splitting siren appeared to have been deactivated by the blast. Realizing lying on the ground wasn't very productive he attempted to stand but failed and staggered back into the wall where he sunk to the ground and gazed at the corridor.

He couldn't tell whether it was the same one he had been in earlier or not but layers of dust caked everything along with odd clumps of debris, a few pipes stuck awkwardly from the ceiling and walls, most noticeably the one spraying the cool liquid onto his head, almost like rain. He reached for the a nearby pipe or steel support, he didn't really know what it was but as long as he could use to help stand he didn't care. His whole body was still throbbing from healing and his mind was still numb from James' death, the void clogging his psychic sense. He dragged the pipe back towards him wincing at the loud sound it made, likening it to nails on a chalkboard and nervously looked for James' body but saw nothing, no one, no people, no abnormals, it was deserted.

He let go of the pipe and tried to fight of tears thinking of James, guilt descended on him once more and bitter anger towards himself. It had been his own stupid plan that had gotten James and maybe even Ashley killed after all, he squeezed his eyes shut and tried to swallow the lump in his throat, logically he knew he had to leave before more guards came and he already felt weak from the poison, from the explosion. He cursed his weakness but oddly realized it was the closest he'd ever come to being mortal, distractedly he felt the pipe water falling just like rain, he had always liked the rain.

"Its not rain its a busted pipe," a female voice snapped.

Half hearted Nick reopened his eyes expecting to see some Cabal guards to fight but there was only the one, she wasn't even wearing armor just normal clothes. He frowned and got awkwardly to his feet using the pipe for support, she looked to be the same age as him, same skin tone, same color hair except tied back into a ponytail, same eye color which quickly flashed the vampiric tone... his jaw literally dropped whether just a delusional or not, he was looking at his twin.


	40. Twins

_Thanks so so much to athannah and melissaadams22 for reviewing :)  
_

* * *

"Patty?" he questioned when his mouth seemed to have regained the power of speech again.

"Who else?" she retorted with a slight smirk.

"I can't believe you're alive," he commented smiling at her.

Using the pipe for support he approached and hugged her tightly, closing his eyes and just for a second just forgetting his worries about the Cabal and everything, shedding the burden of responsibility he carried and just relishing the miraculous resurrection of his twin. In retrospect he supposed he shouldn't be so surprised considering John's revival but it has still never occurred to him with everything else going on, regardless he was thankful that if nothing else he had at least lived to see her again. Distantly he tried and failed to reach out to her mind, once it had come so easily to him but now he likened it to trying to climb a cliff with oven mitts on during a rainstorm, mentally cursing his powers he pulled away and dragged his thoughts back to their present situation.

"I missed you so much," Patty whispered and he didn't have the heart to tell her he was dying.

"Come on," he whispered back taking her hand and turning to lead them down the corridor, "we have to get out before more Cabal guards come for us."

"I can't," she said gently releasing his hand he spun back to face her bewildered.

"Why not?" he asked worriedly.

"This is my home now," she announced firmly, "this is my family, this is my life."

"Please no," Nick pleaded tiredly.

* * *

Ashley opened her eyes and again and staggered to her feet quickly, panicking as she looked around for her brother, she didn't think she'd managed to reach him as she teleported and seeing how deserted the surrounding corridor was she realized she hadn't. She took a second to get her head in gear, she didn't want to risk teleporting when her ears were still ringing from the force of the blast.

Steadying herself she studied the area she was in carefully and was surprised to find that instead of a bland white-walled corridor like the rest of the place, this one had a giant section of glass to her left. Despite her priority being going back for her brother, her curiosity was piqued and she cautiously approached the glass and gazed at the warehouse beyond. She gasped at what she saw and pressed her hands against the glass in amazement and gazed down below.

"That is so not peachy," she muttered.

* * *

"The Cabal is an amazing thing," Patty informed him as her face lit up with deluded amazement, "their technology, their ideas, their vision is going to bring about a new world. A better world, a golden age for mankind free of any filthy abnormals who dare threaten the perfect balance of humanity."

"We're abnormals," Nick pointed out tearfully.

"And look how dangerous we are!" she retorted firmly, "we're fast, strong, deadly, not to mention immortal. Vampires were overthrown and eradicated for a good reason, abnormals are dangerous."

"Most abnormals are peaceful," he protested, "you know this!"

"Peaceful?" she repeated laughing bitterly, "oh brother, Mom has totally done a number on making you believe her lies. My own sister murdered me, how peaceful is that?"

"She was under the control of an energy elemental," he told her fiercely feeling a renewed hatred for Cabal.

"Which is an abnormal," Patty said seriously, "you have to trust me, if you don't then... then the Cabal will have to kill you for the greater good."

"The greater good is saving abnormals!" he practically yelled, "more good can be done from protecting life, _all _life than from destroying it!"

"The same way they protected me?" she asked bitterly.

"They tried," he whispered as the dark memories swamped his mind and he was grateful for the support of the thin piece of pipe, "they tried, Will even lost his life."

"Exactly, the brave human died and the pathetic abnormals lived," she snapped, "that's always the way with them."

"They've brainwashed you! They're evil!" he cried desperately and tried to reach her mind again but failed.

"They don't use the controllers on me," she announced changing into her vampire form, "I'm giving you one final chance, join us or I will have to kill you. Please don't make me kill you."

"I will not join the Cabal," he told her quietly wiping his eyes, "not now or ever. You should know that too, they apparently did."

"So be it," his twin snarled.

* * *

"Are you sure you're alright?" Big Guy asked her gently.

"Yes," Helen repeated.

"So you went to save your son and now we've lost all of our children. And James is forever dead," John stated bitterly, "brilliant Nikola."

"Oh shut up Jack the Ripper," Nikola shot back, "and this isn't my fault, if no one had gone looking for you then none of this would have happened."

"But then we wouldn't have found out where the Cabal are keeping the super soldier abnormals before they ship them out," Ashley announced and several shocked heads swiveled to see her, "they're in this warehouse place, I don't know how long for though."

"Well that at least is a plus," Big Guy commented.

"We can blow those suckers up," Kate agreed.

"Where's Nick?" Helen and Nikola questioned at the same time.

"He's err... well we kind of got separated," Ashley answered.

"Idiot!" Nikola snapped.

"The Cabal guys' armor exploded," she pointed out moodily, "I barely escaped with my life, Nick can survive that sort of thing so he's probably still there. Dear old Dad can pick him up, the rest of you should see the warehouse so we can plan out next move."

"I'll go with John," Helen announced quickly, desperate to talk to him about her latest episode.

"Fine."

* * *

Nick jumped backwards again to avoid his twins incredibly sharp claws as he had discovered, she stopped for a second to glare at him and he felt doom settling down on him. He couldn't possibly win against her considering he was dying anyway and unwilling to harm her even if she was trying to kill him, his best hope was actually reaching her mentally but his powers remained screwed up even when his life depended on them.

"Fight dammit!" she yelled launched herself towards him again which he aptly avoided but was really beginning to wonder what the point was.

"Please just listen," he begged, "the Cabal are evil, they're going to destroy this world not make it better."

"Mom," Patty gasped suddenly as her eyes shimmered briefly back to blue before snarling with renewed anger, confused he glanced behind him and saw his Mom with John, "she has to die."

"No!" he yelled jumping back in front of her and holding the pipe up warningly, "she has amnesia, she doesn't know either of us so just leave her. Leave her, kill me instead. I'm dead already."

"What do you mean by that?" she asked looking confused as her eyes faded back to blue.

"Poison," he whispered, "the Cabal injected me with this stuff and its killing me, I'm dying. I'll be dead by morning anyway."

"They-they wouldn't just..." she muttered as the fight drained from her eyes which welled with tears, "you can't be dying... they wouldn't do that, that's not fair."

"It's true," he said firmly feeling a bubble of relief from the disillusioned look on her face.

"But-"

Before he could hear her reply someone grabbed him from behind and in a blaze and swirl of light and colors he was transported away from his long lost sister and back inside the familiar stone walls of the Sanctuary. Hurriedly he brushed of John's arms and turned to face him scowling angrily.

"Take me back!" he screamed at his killer, "I was getting through to her! Take me back! Take me back!"

"No," John told him firmly.

"Bleep it all to hell!" he yelled slamming his fist onto a conveniently nearby table.

"Who was that vampire girl?" Helen asked obliviously while Nick and John exchanged a look.

"That was your other daughter, Patricia Nigella Magnus," John announced.

"My twin," Nick added bitterly.


	41. Hoping

_Thanks to athannah and Akaylah for reviewing_

* * *

"They Cabal revived her too," Helen mused thoughtfully.

"Except she's not under the control of one of the bugs," Nick snapped before turning to John, "why didn't you tell me she was alive?"

"I didn't know!" John protested before a flash of light announced the return of Ashley along with Kate and Big Guy.

"You're okay," Big Guy offered cheerfully giving Nick a halfhearted head-slap, "don't disappear like that."

"I learned my lesson," Nick pointed out bitterly.

"Great," Ashley muttered smiling, "I'll just go get Tesla and be right back."

"I can tell you what we found," Big Guy told him as Ashley teleported away again, "we found where the Cabal are keeping the super abnormal soldiers before they send them out."

"Plenty of time to blow the suckers up before they're set to deploy," Kate announced brightly.

"You can't kill them," Nick protested, "they've been used against their will, they're controlled by either the bugs or mind control drugs or a mixture of both. We should try to only kill them if there's absolutely no other way, as a last resort."

"For a vampire you're such a pacifist," Kate complained.

"And you're helpful for a Cabal agent," Nick retorted.

"I want my money!" Kate exclaimed before softening her tone, "plus I was pretty much dead the moment you knocked on my door, the Cabal are like that."

"The Cabal like to kill people they don't trust," Helen muttered recalling how the Cabal had turned on Kate in her memories.

"Yeah," Kate agreed as Ashley teleported back with Nikola who gave Nick a relieved look.

"How do you propose we stop an army of super soldier abnormals without killing them?" Big Guy asked looking towards Nick.

"Taking each bug out and purging the mind control drugs from every system will take time," Helen agreed.

"Sound," Nick explained impatiently, "the bugs are more sensitive to high pitched sound and if we can create the right frequency and project they'll be forced to vacate the hosts."

"Are we talking about the super soldier abnormals?" Nikola wondered, "because we need to use them as a ransom for the cure."

"We're trying to stop the Cabal not blackmail them," Nick complained tiredly.

"You're grounded," Nikola informed him.

"What are we going to do about your sister?" John questioned.

"I didn't do anything!" Ashley protested defensively not knowing he meant Patty.

"I don't know," Nick sighed frustratedly before glaring at them, "why are you asking me these things anyway? I don't know anything, I've been in charge a day and got myself and James killed, clearly I suck at this! I'm going to go die in my room, you guys can stop the Cabal and save Patty without me."

"What?" Nikola muttered as Nick stalked off.

"Nick!" Helen called after him.

"What was that about saving Patty?" Nikola inquired frowning in confusion, "she's dead... isn't she?"

"Not anymore," John whispered.

* * *

"What happened?" Dana demanded glaring at Patty, "why are none of the Sanctuary people dead?"

"James Watson is," Patty pointed out.

"He died before the explosion," Dana moaned, "you were supposed to kill the survivors."

"It's not my fault two of their number can teleport," she replied darkly.

"So its true about them having turned John," Dana mused.

"How did they even find out about the mind control bugs?" Gideon questioned, "we made sure to keep it a secret, mother why did they know that?"

"I have no idea, Patty?" Dana retorted raising an eyebrow at the vampire.

"I didn't tell them if that's what your implying," Patty snapped, "if I had to guess I'd assume its something to do with Helen Magnus' apparent amnesia, my brother didn't lie about it but it wasn't the whole truth."

"Amnesia has nothing to do with anything," Gideon announced glaring at her, "that's just stupid."

"Gideon please, let someone with more than half a brain cell speak," she told him moodily, "if you want to be useful then go and check if the corridors are being repaired."

"Yes mother," he muttered obediently but shot her a dark look as he slipped away.

"Take a seat Patricia," Dana offered with a forced smile that failed to reach her eyes.

"I'd rather stand," Patty told her firmly.

"What is troubling you?" Dana asked leaning back in her seat, "I have a lot of work to do."

"If I may be completely frank?" Patty inquired.

"You may," Dana agreed suspiciously raising an eyebrow.

"Why did you poison my twin brother?" Patty asked forcefully, "you told me I could offer him the chance to join us, he'd only die if he refused but he's already dying. By your hand."

"He was never going to join us," Dana informed her with another smile, "I didn't want to hurt your feelings but it was an impossible task. Besides how often were we going to have that chance? The chance to eliminate both Magnus', Helen has amnesia and your brother was just captive like that. With them gone the heart of the Sanctuary is gone and without the heart, it dies and we can just pick at the carcass to wipe out the filth that remains. You were going to kill him anyway, what does it matter?"

"You said he could have a chance!" Patty protested, "you said I could try and convince him, he's my twin brother. If I could just have reached his mind then I know I could have convinced him to join us and save himself!"

"You're powers don't work so well since your revival," Dana pointed out, "look Patty, you have to realize that you can't save everyone. Sometimes no matter how hard you try you can't save someone and it doesn't matter how hard you work, how hard you try and how much you love them. You just can't save them."

"But you told me if my family really loved me then they wouldn't have let me die," Patty offered frowning.

"Completely different situation," Dana answered quickly, "now run along, we have a lot of work to do now our schedule has accelerated."

"Is there a cure?" Patty asked quietly.

"A cure?" Dana repeated not understanding.

"Is there a cure for the poison you used on my brother?" she repeated.

"No," Dana told her firmly, "is that all?"

"Yes," Patty whispered turning to leave so no one would see the tear in her eye, "I was just curious."


	42. Magnus'

Helen slipped away from the group, it wasn't as if they valued her opinion anyway due to her amnesia and she felt obligated to go talk to Nick. It was only after she'd got into the elevator that it dawned on her that she had no idea where his room was, silently cursing her lack of memories she opted to try the roof as he seemed to have a fondness for it.

_"Bloody hell Nikola!" her father's pained voice snapped._

"Father?" she questioned placing a hand on the wall to steady herself as her eyes closed._  
_

_"I have to set the bone or it won't heal properly, biology 101," Nikola informed him with a smirk in his voice, "why, did it hurt?"_

_"Obviously," Gregory pointed out._

_"Its not nearly as painful as being shocked by a massive geomagnetic current derived directly from the Earth," Nikola retorted with a hint of bitterness._

"Please hear me," Helen begged them, "do you know what's wrong with me? Are your voices real?"

_"Still not over that?" Gregory sighed._

_"Nope," Nikola answered bluntly, "plus you know, you got mixed up with a bunch of crazy lunatics who put Helen in a coma and are currently trying to kill us."_

_"You can't seriously be blaming me for this?" Gregory complained sounding slightly frustrated._

_"Of course," Nikola announced brightly._

_"No one asked you to come, you know," Will pointed out, "in fact we left you behind... and then so did John so really you of all people shouldn't be complaining."_

"Will what do you mean and so did John?" Helen asked, "what in the world happened?"

_"You do realize if I hadn't found a way here then you'd all be dead?" Nikola commented, "there done. Now we should probably get moving, they'll come this way looking for us soon."_

_"We can't just keep running from them," Will offered sounding tired._

_"I know," Gregory agreed solemnly, "but its not like we have a lot of options right now."_

_"It would be easier if we could get Helen to wake up," Nikola offered quietly._

_"I don't think its that easy," Gregory sighed before she felt him brushing her hair gently out of her eyes and tenderly kissing her forehead, "hang in there Helen. Hang in there."_

"Father!" she screamed desperate for him to hear her but her eyes opened only to be rewarded by the wall she was leaning against, "bloody, bloody hell."

She let out a frustrated sigh and put a hand to her face, it has felt so real she could have sworn her father had been right there, right by her side. She sighed again sadly, if Nick's theory was correct and the other 'world' was real then she had an awful feeling she was running out of time to wake up before the others and possibly herself were killed. The fact that the episodes were becoming more frequent and happening while she was awake was probably not the best sign either.

Helen pushed on to the roof where the rain was still crashing down heavily but sure enough Nick was sitting in his usual spot in the corner watching the world.

"Interesting choice of bedroom," she mused approaching him cautiously.

"It's more peaceful up here," he offered quietly as she sat on one of the parapets beside him.

"I've always found that to be the case," she agreed taking a minute to take in the view, the rain managing to make the more dilapidated buildings look more presentable.

"When I was younger you used to take me up here at dawn and we used to watch the sunrise," Nick told her without taking his eyes from the city, "you used to say no matter how crazy and messed up things got, that we'd always have that one moment of peace."

"That sounds nice," she muttered thoughtfully.

"It was," he agreed wistfully, "I don't think I'll live long enough to see the sun rise again."

"So you're just going to sit here and wait to die?" she wondered disapprovingly, "you can't just give up on everything."

"Why?" he questioned shooting her a dark look.

"You weren't giving up before," she pointed out.

"Before I hadn't got James killed, before my twin wasn't enamored with the bleeping Cabal," he retorted bitterly, "do you have any idea what's that like?"

"In my memories Ashley-"

"It wasn't the same as that!" he interrupted, "she was under their control, she didn't honestly believe they were good. And she wasn't your twin, we used to know each other better than we knew ourselves and now she's been brainwashed by evil, I don't know her at all."

"There's still a chance you can save her," Helen protested, "there's always hope."

"No there's not," he muttered shaking his head, "not in the time I have left anyway, Big Guy, Dad and the others will have to do it."

"Why not at least try to help," she pressed.

"Last time I tried to help James lost his life," Nick snapped bitterly, "I'm not like you guys, I don't know all the things that you all know, I'm not smart or talented, I'm reckless and stupid and it cost James his life."

"His death is on the Cabal," Helen told him firmly, "you didn't fire those guns."

"No I just put him in the line of fire," he retorted equally firmly.

"The Nick I know wouldn't just give up," she commented seriously.

"You don't know me," he muttered darkly turning away, "you don't remember me, you don't know the first thing about me, you don't know anything about me."

"That doesn't mean I'm wrong," she pointed out quietly, "you're still my son, you're a Magnus. And we don't give up."

With that she stood up briskly and turned to leave, heading for the stairs before Nick called after her.

"Mom-"

"I'm going to go and try to stop the Cabal," she told him without looking back, "they're trying to figure out what frequency the bugs controlling the super soldier abnormals respond to. You can stay up here and wait for your death or you can come down and help us, its your choice."

She left without another word.


	43. Reality

_Thank you so much to melissaadams22 for reviewing!_

* * *

Helen wandered back through the hallways to where the others were still preparing to leave, Ashley and Kate were in the corner with seemingly half the armory and from what she could hear from their excited conversation, engrossed in the topic of guns despite how both looked armed to the teeth already. Under the watchful eye of Bigfoot, John was carefully holstering some guns, while she knew he wasn't a big fan of guns much preferring hand-to-hand combat, she knew he was a good marksman nonetheless. Nikola however still seemed to be searching for the right frequency as he played around with an acoustic device and the bug collected from John.

Watching them all gave her a very odd feeling, for the first time since waking up she was only truly accepting the possibility that Nick was right about none of it being real. It wasn't even the fact that Nikola and John were on the unusual side of good, or that Big Guy was clearly planning on going along or even that her deceased daughter has seemingly befriended Kate, it was the detachment she felt from everything. She felt just as determined as them to stop the Cabal and hopefully find a cure for Nick but she didn't feel like she was part of it, they were all carrying on without her, without even acknowledging her presence. It was easy to blame it on her supposed amnesia but she just didn't feel like she belonged, in this time, in this place despite it being her home.

**_I was probably wrong about that, forget what I said_**

Upon hearing her son's voice in her mind she glanced around but saw no sign of him much to her confusion.

**_I don't have to be right beside you to talk to you mentally. My powers are crazy at the moment_**

**_I'm still not completely used to mentally communicating  
_**

**_Sally does it_**

**_Only when I'm right beside her. We're going off subject! I think you might be right about the different worlds, maybe I should try dying and see what happens_**

**_Don't you think you should ask someone slightly more qualified than me before you kill yourself?_**

**_Like who? _**

**_Someone who's not me. Look I was wrong okay? This world or the one you remember could be real or neither of them could or I could just be wrong about it being another world and you're just having some kind of delusional breakdown_**

**_I don't have to be psychic to tell that neither of us believe it is just a delusional breakdown_**

**_I still don't think you should risk suicide_**

**_How about a compromise?_**

"Like what?" Nick questioned speaking normally and she almost jumped as saw him behind her.

"Don't do that!" she exclaimed.

"What? You said you didn't like telepathically communicating," he pointed out.

"I think I prefer it slightly to having you sneak up behind me," she protested but found herself smiling, "I'm glad you decided to help."

"It's what James wanted," he told her sadly before returning her smile, "besides its in my blood. So what's this compromise?"

"It can probably wait until we're done with the Cabal," she told him glancing back where the others were still working.

"This is important," Nick said suddenly serious, "whatever is happening to you is important, the fact your memories pan out just proves how real this is and that its becoming more frequent and that it happens while you're awake and mentally its still like you're dying which is not good either and to top it all off whatever is happening in your memories is potentially life threatening. The others don't need out help right now this second and I may not get another chance to help you with this, now or never."

"What if the others try and leave us behind?" she wondered worriedly.

"Don't worry, they're going to come and get us before they leave," Nick announced shrugging it off.

"How can you be so sure?" she asked curiously raising an eyebrow, she didn't want to miss out on this.

"Because I'm psychic, remember?" he pointed out with a very Tesla-esque smirk that made her smile despite herself.

"Very well," she told him sobering slightly, "my compromise is that I do kill myself but only temporarily, after a few minutes you can revive me. Think about it, last time when I drowned I actually woke up in the 'other' world and could interact with them rather than just hearing them. They might at the very least know something useful, something insightful to help us understand this. And then you can simply revive me and we'll plan our next move."

"You realize that sounds crazy right?" Nick pointed on dubiously in reply.

"I know but what other choice do we have?" she retorted quickly, "please Nick, I can't do this without you."

"If you would just let me finish," Nick stated giving her an accusing look, "it does sound crazy and I must be crazy too because I think it is actually a good idea."

"Excellent," she mused smiling broadly, "knew there was something I liked about you."


	44. Torn

_Thank you melissaadams22 for reviewing_

* * *

"So you're clear on the plan?" Helen asked of Nick as she lay down on the bed.

"Inject you with this stuff to stop your heart," he informed her holding up the needle of serum to show her, "then I wait five minutes exactly before giving you CPR."

"Very good," she praised him as she rolled up her sleeve, "ready."

"Are you absolutely sure you want to go through with this?" Nick inquired of her worriedly for the tenth time.

"I'm certain," she confirmed yet again, "we need answers and this is the only way we're going to get them, so proceed Nikola."

"Don't call me Nikola," he moaned before sighing, "okay here goes nothing. It bleeping well better work."

Hesitantly but with impressive accuracy injected her with the serum, she opened her mouth to tell him he'd done a good job but her mouth felt incapable of moving, her eyes flickering shut as already she could feel her heart beat slowing, hear the echo of the last few final beats. Nick's worried face blurred into nothingness as she succumbed to death.

_For a minute there was just darkness before her body seemed to regain strength and she tenuously opened her eyes, instead of her warm cozy bedroom in the Sanctuary she saw gray rocks and stone and found herself shivering as she sat up._

_"Helen?" her father's voice questioned and she glanced to her right to see him sitting there, looking tired and worn but nonetheless she smiled broadly as she saw him and hugged him tightly._

_"I missed you father," she told him firmly, "its so good to see you."_

_"I know," he replied pulling away to smile at her, "I was beginning to worry that you'd never wake up."_

_"About that..." she muttered wondering if she should tell him considering how she only had a few minutes before Nick revived her, "I'm actually most likely going to pass out again in a few minutes so be prepared for that."_

_"What? Why?" he questioned worriedly frowning at her._

_"The corridor to the left is block-" Nikola said as he and Will rounded a bend, coming into view, both gaped as they saw her before he smiled, "and Helen's awake, finally some good news."_

_"I only have 5 minutes before Nick revives me," she told them quickly as they sat beside them, looking as exhausted as her father, "so talk fast. What's going on?"_

_"Did she hit her head?" Will asked worriedly._

_"No!" Helen protested, "look just tell what happened to me."_

_"We have no idea, you were unconscious when I found you," Nikola informed her._

_"Well do you at least know whether this world is real?" she asked earning three puzzled looks._

_"Are you sure she didn't hit her head?" Will wondered aloud._

_"I'm serious," Helen told them cursing her lack of a watch, "I had to die in the other world to wake up in this one but I keep getting glimpses of your conversation over there, Nick thinks that if I have to die in the fake world to permanently come back into the real world but I don't know which one that is so please, give me something."_

_"What other world?" Nikola questioned looking stumped for once._

_"As far as I know here is real," Will offered unhelpfully._

_"If there are two worlds, realities or whatever," her father explained, "then it is likely that since you are apparently caught between them that this Nick is right, my guess is that whatever they did to you is highly untested and unstable and you should get out before something goes horribly wrong."_

_"But how do I tell which reality is real?" she asked._

_"Whichever one you feel most in tune with," her father told her._

_"Isn't it obvious this world is real?" Will informed her, "I'm real, you're real, here is real and there are a lot of things going on here."_

_"The other world feels real too," Helen pointed out, "and there's a lot going on there too, you have no idea what its like."_

_"It's kind of a pointless question," Nikola told her shrugging, "think about it, whoever you ask is going to say that their world is real. You'd have to be psychic to get an unbiased view."_

_"Psychic..." she mused thinking of her son._

_"That's what I said," Nikola muttered._

_"Don't worry about that now," Will said retrieving some bottled water from his backpack and handing it to her, "try get your strength back, we need to keep moving."_

"Nick!" Henry yelled much to her confusion as she looked around and saw no sign of him, "Nick! Nick! Nick!"

"I'm listening," her son's voice pointed out, "I'm just kind of trying to keep time here."

_"You okay?" Nikola inquired frowning, "you're face just went 5 shades paler."_

_"Err... yeah," she replied reluctantly taking the water from Will._

"That's funny!" Henry laughed, "you can't keep time, its not something you can collect like DVDs. Why are you watching your mom sleep anyway?"

_"You still with us Helen?" her father asked worriedly placing a hand on her shoulder and she realized she was staring off in a random direction._

"Did you want something Henry?" Nick questioned tiredly.

_"Yeah I'm fine," she told them with a forced smile._

"There's this lady on the phone and err... she wanted to talk to you," Henry explained, "her name was Dana Whit-something and she said it was important."

"Stall her Henry, I can't talk right now," Nick snapped, "I have to revive my mother."

"You shouldn't bother her, she's sleeping," Henry pointed out.

_"Hopefully I'll see you all soon," Helen told the others glancing at their worried faces as her eyes started to drift shut._

_"No!" Nikola yelled._

_"C'mon Magnus, stay with us!" Will added but her she felt herself falling back._

_"Oh Helen," her father sighed._

Abruptly she opened her eyes and shot up, panicked glancing around the inside of her bedroom with Nick standing beside her just as he had been when she 'left' a few minutes ago, she put a hand to her still aching head but felt oddly more at home here. He let out a relieved sigh as he half collapsed into a nearby chair before shooting her a dark look.

"We are never doing that again," Nick told her seriously, "ever."


	45. Disagreements

_Thank you melissaadams22 for reviewing_

* * *

"Have I ever told you that you worry too much?" Helen complained as Nick rose to leave.

"Not recently," he offered defensively with a shrug as she jumped up to follow him along with Henry, "so what did you find out?"

"They don't know why this is happening to me either," she informed him to which he sighed frustratedly, "but they think you're right about one of the worlds being real and the other unstable and they might know a way on how to decide which one is real. Where are you going?"

"Apparently Dana Whitcomb wants to talk to me so I'm going to a phone," Nick explained as if it were obvious.

"Don't you have cell phones?" she wondered.

"Gideon banned them," he told her blandly, "so how do we figure out which one is real?"

"Not we, you," she said firmly and he stopped to look at her confused.

"Come again?" he questioned.

"I have no idea what you guys are talking about but it sounds pretty cool," Henry announced excitedly glancing between them.

"Anyone in this world will say its the real one and anyone in the other world will say that its the real one," Helen tried to explain opting to ignore Henry for the time being, "both feel equally real to me."

"And this has to do with me how?" Nick inquired slowly.

"You're psychic abilities mean you should be able to search my mind for memories and know what is true, like how you know when someone is lying but more... vast," she concluded.

"My powers don't work," he told her frustratedly, "I can barely control them, let alone do what you expect of me. Even if I could do it, I don't have nearly enough time to even attempt it and my powers are even worse than usual since we got back from the Cabal base. You'll have to get a better psychic to do it."

"Like who Nick?" she asked of him, "telepaths can't do what you do, merfolk can't either, no other abnormal I can think of has capability to do it."

"You don't think I wish I could help you?" Nick retorted bitterly, "you don't think I wish my powers were back the way they used to be? You don't think I realize how useful they could be to you and the Sanctuary network? I want to help you but I just can't, its hard enough just to see one memory let alone try figure out if its even real. I feel your frustration but trust me, I can't do this, let alone in the short time I have left."

"Fine," Helen announced giving up on trying to convince him as they continued on, "but you realize that if we can't figure this out, then I'll probably end up dead."

"And then you wonder why I worry too much?" Nick sighed, "Patty has the same powers as me and if I can get through to her and unbrainwash her- if that's a word- then she will hopefully help you. She's not dying so she has plenty of time."

"No offense but... wasn't she trying to kill you?" Helen pointed out, "and that was only like an hour ago."

"Nick used to have a twin sister named Patty," Henry offered unhelpfully before stopping to pick up the phone left unhinged, "he's here now."

"Put it on speaker," Helen whispered to Nick as Henry handed him the phone.

"What do you want?" Nick asked instantly.

_"Where are your manners?" _Dana's sickly sinister voice inquired over the line.

"I don't really have time for small talk," Nick pointed out.

"_Oh yes I almost forgot you're dying_," Dana drawled, "_my condolences, I'm terribly sorry._"

"I bet you are," Nick muttered sarcastically, "so what do you want?"

"_I came to offer you a deal, a very limited and one time offer_," Dana informed him bluntly, "_I want you to surrender the entire global Sanctuary network to me along with my operative, in return I'll return your twin and give you the cure to your sickness_."

**_Is she telling the truth about a cure?_**

**_I can't tell over the phone_**

"No deal," Nick told her firmly.

"_Be reasonable_," Dana pleaded in a patronizing tone, "_your mother has amnesia rendering her incapable of running this, James Watson is deceased which effectively leaves only a bunch of generic replaceable dummies leading the network under you, a child. You're in over your head and dying to boot, I'm offering you a chance here to save your life and limit the bloodshed of the other abnormals_."

"No deal," Nick repeated.

"_You're making a mistake_," Dana said her tone colder, "_we could have worked together here, for the good of humanity. Instead you can die knowing that you've just ended the lives of every abnormal you're supposed to protect._"

"No, I'll die knowing the Cabal are dead," Nick retorted before Dana hung up, "that went well."

"You could have tried negotiating with her," Helen complained.

"Why?" Nick asked looking at her blankly, "she's a power hungry maniac determined to wipe abnormals from the face of the Earth, she's against everything the Sanctuary stand for, in your memories she's even responsible for Ashley's death."

"Exactly, I didn't compromise and it cost my daughter her life," Helen told him firmly.

"She doesn't have anything we want," Nick pointed out, "if I can't help my twin then there's no point in keeping her here as a prisoner and I'm not going to give up your life's work over a cure that probably doesn't exist."

"Nick-"

"The Sanctuary is more important than anything else, especially my life," Nick interrupted, "you of all people should know that."


	46. Into the Lair

_Thanks so so much to Chapa'ai-hi, athannah, melissaadams22, naiad8 and Kalyxia for reviewing!_

_Sorry the lack of updates, I hadn't the chance while my grandma was staying here and then its taken me awhile to get back into writing and I'm still not sure it doesn't suck partially because I'm never sure if anyone likes Nick's POV chapters but I digress and will stop rambling now, enjoy. Hopefully_

* * *

"Nick, Helen," Big Guy called them over before Helen could reply, "Tesla has news."

"He found the right bug frequency?" Helen guessed.

"Better," Big Guy grunted motioning them to follow, taking them back to where the others still were.

"So what's the news?" Nick asked hoping he didn't sound as tired as he felt.

"I've been trying to find the right frequency for the bugs, to make them vacate their hosts," Nikola explained, "then I realized how impractical that was, takes time which we don't have so instead I found a frequency which renders them inactive, asleep which would give the host back control so we can get them out then get the bugs out when we have time."

"Good thinking," Helen commented.

"I do try," Nikola retorted smiling triumphantly.

"So what's the plan now?" Kate questioned, "we go in rush out the super soldiers than blast the Cabal into oblivion?"

"We need to split up," Nick announced as seven pairs of eyes fell on him, "Ashley and Kate are the best with bombs, they go around the base setting the explosive charges while the rest of you focus on the super soldiers. Biggie and Dad stay with the acoustic device to project the signal, that can also be our rendezvous point by the way, while Mom and John concentrate on getting then stabilized abnormals out of there. When they've all been evacuated we teleport out of there and detonate the charges, crippling the Cabal beyond repair... Unless anyone else has a better plan."

"No, that sounds... well thought out," Ashley informed him.

"I'm just gonna go to bed," Henry mumbled uncertainly.

"What are you going to be doing while we're doing all this?" John asked curiously.

"Find Patty, convince her the Cabal is evil and save her before we blow the place," Nick answered bluntly, "maybe look for the cure while I'm at it."

"When you put it like that it sounds so simple," Kate muttered sarcastically.

"If anyone is going to get through to her than its me," he explained, "so is everyone good to go? We don't have time to waste."

Nick stopped himself from swallowing nervously, if they knew he lacked confidence in his own plan then they'd never go through with it and the Cabal would win. They were ready now, he could sense their cluttered thoughts, determination shone through along with fragments of redemption and shards of distrust, he doubted they'd work together for long before old rivalries got the better of them despite his deliberately placing them in pairs to avoid confrontation, however he didn't need long.

"We're good," Biggie grunted as they moved away to grab the things they needed.

"Good, we leave in five," Nick announced grabbing a stunner quickly, "remember try to stun not kill because of the exploding armor and make sure you all have a radio so we can stay in contact."

"Yes mother," Kate muttered mockingly which he gracefully chose to ignore.

"So let's go," John stated, his eagerness showing in his mind and his words as he grabbed the nearest two people to himself who happened to Nick and his father before teleporting them both away to the warehouse in a flash of light they were there.

Ashley arrived a second later with Kate and Biggie in tow while John dematerialized again to go back for Helen, Nikola moved away to set up the acoustic device and Kate began checking the C4 they'd brought with them, her emotions indicating amazement with teleporting. He turned away to scan for any signs there intrusion had been detected but saw no one, sensed no one, no sign of even a security camera, only the super soldier abnormals lined up by the thousands in the warehouse below and they weren't looking up and even if they did he doubted they were programmed to do anything about it.

"Ashley can you hand me the detonator? I need to calibrate it," he asked nodding to the device which she quickly threw to him.

"Sure thing Nicky," she commented brightly as he caught it.

"Sure thing, _Nick_," he corrected her as he prepared the detonator, usually he would wait until after the explosives were set to arm it but no one else could and he wasn't sure he'd be alive if he waited.

"Why?" Ashley complained and he sensed her tiredness bleeding into her speech, still not fully recovered from being attacked.

"As soon as the C4 is set you need to leave," he told her firmly recalling Helen's worry, "radio it in and then go back the Sanctuary, you're still hurt."

"And you're dying," Ashley pointed out and he sensed her annoyance, "and changing the subject."

"Because it's not important and you are," he retorted looking at her as he finished with the detonator, "Mom is concerned for your life, just get out of here when you're done. Please."

She opened her mouth to reply before John reappeared with Helen in tow, her face remained calm but her thoughts betrayed new found anxiety not for the mission but for whatever was happening in the "other" world as he'd decided to think of it.

"That took awhile," Kate complained moodily.

"I had another... other world experience," Helen explained.

"What's happening?" Nick inquired curiously.

"My father and Will have left to try sneak into Praxis and save the others, meanwhile me and Nikola are under attack. Again," Helen answered but trailed off when Kate raised a bewildered eyebrow, "but its not really important right now, we should be focusing on the mission."

"Uh-huh," grunted Ashley in agreement, he sensed her disinterest as she scooped up the bag carrying explosives, "we'll get started then. Operation blow-the-crap-out-of-the-Cabal is a go."

**_Be careful _**

Ashley shot him an odd look before brightly turning to Kate, offering her hand and teleporting the both of them away.

"Seems more deserted than I expected," Helen mused half to herself as she took in her surroundings.

"There's nothing of value in this room so no guards, its mainly used by scientists needing to observe the super soldiers but its late so they're probably all at home asleep or working in the labs more likely," John told them glancing sympathetically down at the abnormals.

"I should go," Nick announced.

"Are you sure its wise to go alone?" Helen questioned worriedly, "one of us could go with you."

"Saving those people is important," Nick explained before deciding to be honest, "besides I have the best chance of getting through to Patty alone."

"I understand," Helen said truthfully although still wasn't entirely comfortable with it.

**_Trust me mom, it'll be fine_**

**_I hope you're right_**

**_Dad could use your help with the acoustic device_**

"Fine," Helen agreed leaving to go help the other two setting up the device in the corner.

"Hey John can I talk to you?" Nick asked quietly breaking John from his reverie who turned to look at him with a slightly puzzled expression.

"You want me to go with you?" John guessed.

"No," Nick sighed making up his mind he pressed the detonator into his hand, "I need you to take this."

"The detonator?" John said scowling, "why are you giving me this?"

"Because I'm dying," Nick stated firmly but hushed enough so the others wouldn't hear, "and I can't risk taking it with me in case I die before this mission is over, I need someone I trust to use it."

"And you trust me more than the others?" John wondered dubiously.

"I need someone who'll pull the trigger no matter what," Nick informed him before deciding to switch to telepathy.

**_Even if I'm still inside_**

"I realize that we don't have the best relationship in the world but I have no desire to harm nor kill you," John explained quietly, unhelpfully feeling horrified by his suggestion.

"I know," Nick whispered forcefully, "but I'm dead either way and everyone else will never press that button until every last one of us is out, including me. This is our only shot of stopping the Cabal once and for all and I'm not letting my life jeopardize that."

"What about the cure...?"

**_We both know there is none. I'm already dead_**

**_You seem fine now_**

**_Only because I've taken epinephrine to kill a large elephant__  
_**

"So just promise me when that when time comes you'll press that button," Nick pleaded with him, "no matter what."

**_I'm still not sure_**

**_You know as well as I do how badly the Cabal have got to be stopped. If you truly want to make up for lifetimes of evil deeds done by your hands then you'll promise__ me this_**

"Nick..." John began before closing his eyes, lost in thought for a moment and despite already knowing his decision he opted to wait for him to say it, "alright, I promise."

"Thank you," Nick said gratefully giving him a half smile, "just press the button on the side to activate it and in case of complications I've build in a timer, if you press the blue button before the one on the side then you'll have 5 minutes before the blast. Understand?"

"Yes," John sighed.

"Good luck," Nick offered brightly darting away.

**_You too_**


	47. Go

_Thanks to athannah for reviewing!  
_

* * *

"What can I do to help?" Helen asked reaching Nikola and Big Guy, the former fiddling with the acoustic device with the latter looking on neutrally.

"I don't really need your help," Nikola commented without looking up, "but if you want to stand there and look beautiful then knock yourself out."

"Really? That's weird," Helen muttered feeling slightly puzzled.

"I've always thought you were beautiful, you are beautiful," Nikola babbled still engrossed in what he was doing, "why is that weird?"

"Not that," Helen corrected him glancing back briefly at John and Nick talking, "its weird because Nick said you could use my help."

"I'm sure he had a good reason," Big Guy grunted disinterested, "are you done with that machine yet?"

"Of course its done, I'm just making adjustments to it because I find it an incredibly fun hobby to waste time," Nikola retorted sarcastically, "its not like this is very important or anything."

"Sarcasm is not helpful," Big Guy complained.

"Neither is constantly asking me if I'm done," Nikola shot back.

"We'll stop asking," Helen told him in an attempt to keep the peace.

"So are you done yet?" John inquired reaching the trio to which Nikola gave a frustrated sigh.

"I hate you Johnny," Nikola pointed out irritably.

"What did Nick want?" Helen asked both out of curiosity and determination to keep the peace.

"Just... err... you know to wish me luck," John answered nervously, "and that I shouldn't let anything happen to you, stuff like that."

"He worries too much," Big Guy growled.

"It's done," Nikola announced excitedly, "I've hooked it up to the speaker system so it should project the sound to all of the super soldiers down there. It'll probably take a minute to fully kick in though."

"I don't hear anything," John complained frowning, "are you sure its working?"

"It's a higher frequency that humans are capable of hearing," Nikola explained as if it were obvious, "even I can only hear a slight- wait I just thought of something."

"What?" the other three asked in unison.

"If I can hear it then Nick can probably hear it too," Nikola told them worriedly, "and if Nick can hear it then Patty can hear it and if Patty can hear it then the Cabal will know about it."

"Probably why Nick wanted you and Biggie to stay here with the machine, to guard it," John pointed out placing a hand on her shoulder in preparation to teleport them both, "have fun."

* * *

Nick rounded a corner and pressed himself against the wall, waiting for whoever was coming to pass him so he could continue his search for his twin. He could sense vaguely which direction she was in so the only problem was to tediously avoid the various patrols and people that wandered around the place, he'd opted to only stun if absolutely necessary, stealth over force was more useful in this situation.

Sure enough the patrol passed, lacking basic skills of observation or even interest in what they were doing was not a good thing for the Cabal but it was for him. Abruptly he stopped, flinching at the sudden high pitched noise, what he assumed was the acoustic device working rather than an indication of his imminent death which he decided to confirm with Biggie anyway.

**_The acoustic device is online?_**

**_Yes_**

"Good," Nick muttered leaning against the wall for a minute to catch his breath, longer distance telepathic communication was tiring at the best of times but he hadn't wanted to risk radio contact in case the people patrolling heard.

Deciding as much time as he could afford to waste had passed he continued down the corridor, his powers uncooperatively failing him, again, but he pressed on regardless. He could still hear the high pitched noise effecting the bugs, grating in his ears as he cautiously made his way around the complex, it felt was like it was drilling into his skull it was so intense. So dizzily intense it made his head spin, literally, he half fell against the wall and gripped onto it desperately as he waited for the world to stop cartwheeling around him, the reeling motion making him want to vomit.

As soon as it had started it stopped, the world solidifying into a cold concrete wall in the Cabal's base although the intense sound remained. He let out a semi relieved sigh and moved his hands away from the wall, realizing his vampiric claws had emerged and scarred the white stone when he'd grabbed it. Sighing again he retracted them and clenched his fists for a moment, silently cursing his weakness.

"You shouldn't be here," a voice he recognized well spoke and he turned back to face his twin, leaning on the opposing wall watching him with a mixture of irritation and concern in her eyes, "you're sick, dying."

"Yeah so why waste my final hours stuck in bed?" he commented smiling while trying to get a read on her mind and failing, "well you haven't tried to kill me yet so that's a good sign... I was hoping we could talk."

* * *

They rematerialized onto a platform in the warehouse where the thousands of confused super soldiers were looking around in terror, a few noticed the newcomers and turned their attention to her and John now angrily demanding answers about what had happened to them and what was going to happen to them, she tried to answer their questions but failed to be heard over the masses.

"SILENCE!" John bellowed loudly and with enough force to shock her slightly and the super soldiers too who instantly fell silent and looked on with frightened eyes, "you have the floor Helen."

"All of you have become victim to the Cabal!" Helen told them in as loud a voice as she could muster, "they have experimented on you to turn you into an army of super soldiers and have been controlling you for God knows how long, we are here to take you to safety where we will attempt to reverse the damage done and return you to your families and your lives!"

"SO EVERYBODY JUST REMAIN CALM AND FOLLOW ARE INSTRUCTIONS!" John shouted to them, "IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?"

There were general murmurings from them that they understood and a few braver souls called out their thanks, it sickened her to no end that the Cabal would do this to so many innocent people. A more practical question of what to do next dawned on her mind, there was no way so many of them would fit into the Sanctuary all at once which meant moving them to a secondary location for now and bringing them back in groups to be treated.

"In my memories we own a warehouse near here, they can stay there until its safe to start moving them to the Sanctuary for treatment," Helen informed John nervously, "assuming we still own that warehouse."

"I'll check with the hairy ape guy," John blurted out quickly, teleporting away almost synchronous with the sentence's end and re-materializing back an instant later, "he says yes."

"Okay then, let's get these doors open," Helen announced enthusiastically to which John simply pressed a lever and the massive doors began sliding open, "show off."

* * *

"If you're going to try and convince me that the Cabal are evil again then just don't bother," Patty retorted darkly brushing a strand of brown hair from her vampiric eyes, "you'll only be wasting your breath and my time but if you're going to tell me why you're here and what's with the noise then go ahead."

"That's it? No fighting? No trying to kill me?" Nick questioned rhetorically, "not even when the other Cabal members have orders to kill me on sight?"

"You're already dying," Patty pointed out, "so its pointless to waste my strength fighting you and there are no orders to kill you on sight."

"Liar," Nick stated firmly, "you are supposed to be killing me, you're just not because you don't want to kill me because you're not evil like the Cabal brainwashed you to be."

"No, you're just not worth the time or effort of killing when you're dead regardless of what I do," she snapped defensively, "and the Cabal are not evil, you're the one who's been brainwashed by lies."

"It doesn't bother you they abduct people, experiment on them and control them by putting a bug in their brains? Intelligent bugs that they also kidnapped, tortured and used them against their will?" Nick asked, "what part of that is not evil?"

"They're abnormals Nikola," Patty growled angrily, "abnormals are evil, they're the ones who are dangerous and a threat to the humans! Its self preservation and if those people didn't know or agree with what they were signing up for then they were either stupid or against us! And if they were against us then they deserve death, the Cabal actually give them better than what they deserve."

"How can you say that?" Nick demanded angrily, "anyone against the Cabal should die? Are you really that far gone?"

"I know the truth!" she yelled, "and the truth is that any abnormal scum or human traitor who doesn't believe in the cause to save humanity that the Cabal believe in, then they do deserve to die and they will!"

"Prove it," Nick offered quietly releasing his anger and grabbing the knife he'd brought with him, he crossed the distance between them and ignoring the blatant confusion scrawled onto her face, h took her hand placing the knife in her grasp then maneuvered her arm so the knife was pointed at his heart, "I'm against the Cabal and I always will be, they're evil and cruel and are nothing more than arrogant liars. If their really is nothing left of you, if you really truly believe in their lies then kill me. Cut out my heart right here, right now. Prove it."


	48. Dying

_Thanks to melissaadams22 for reviewing!  
_

* * *

Nikola sighed, his boredom leading to agitation with the sound being emitted by the machine grated on his nerves to no end but he dared not turn it off in case the Cabal tried anything to revert the super soldiers back before they were all safely away. It didn't make the sound any less annoying though. He was considering leaving Big Guy here and going in search, it would be more useful than sitting on his hands.

"Well this is boring," Nikola commented dryly deciding to lead into it, "I was thinking-"

"We're staying here," Big Guy interrupted him, "both of us."

"I wasn't going to suggest either of us leave," Nikola lied quickly but the disbelieving grunt indicated he was not being very convincing so he fell silent, glancing down at Helen and John leading the super soldiers out of the warehouse.

"You were right, Nick can hear the sound," Big Guy announced suddenly.

"What makes you say that?" Nikola asked not really interested in anything the Sasquatch had to say.

"Because he just asked me if the machine was turned on," he replied, "he probably heard the sound so checked to see if it was turned on."

"I didn't hear the radio," Nikola complained scowling.

"He didn't use the radio," Big Guy answered cryptically before sniffing the air, "I smell company."

"You take the left, I'll take the right," Nikola hissed as they darted to the door and took positions either side of it while the sound of footsteps approached them.

"Remember to stun, not kill," Big Guy whispered fiercely, "any exploding armor could take out us and the machine."

"I'm not an idiot," Nikola bit back angrily before the door swung open and he slammed his fist into whoever was the first person to enter the room.

The man immediately yelped in surprise and pain as he fell face first onto the ground, before he could move Big Guy blasted him with a stunner and the body went limp. The man was alone however, no one else followed him and as they glanced up the corridor they saw nor heard no one else. In fact judging by the fact the man was balding, middle aged and wearing a lab coat that he was nothing more than a simple scientist.

"All that hype over nothing," Nikola muttered feeling the rush of adrenaline fading, "a scientist."

"When he fails to report they'll probably send more people," Big Guy grunted, "more people with guns."

"I know but with any luck we'll be gone by then," Nikola pointed out.

"_Brauer please report_," a voice said suddenly and their eyes shot to a radio on the unconscious man's belt, "_have you found out why the girl is complaining of noise? Brauer?_"

"You were saying?" Big Guy growled irritably.

* * *

Nick suppressed the urge to swallow nervously, he could tell himself a million times over how sure he was that she wouldn't kill him but it didn't change the fact that he hadn't a clue what she would do. Her mind was completely closed off from him, not a single shred of thought or emotion bled through onto her expressionless face with her vampiric eyes displaying nothing as she stood still as stone. It only took him a second to register all of this but seconds dragged by as hours and his heart raced with it.

"Well?" he asked with more bravery than he felt, "what are you waiting for?"

"Why are you doing this?" she asked almost neutrally, "I don't understand."

"What's to understand?" he demanded, "just kill me already, in the name of the bleeping Cabal. Prove your loyalty."

"The 'bleeping' Cabal?" Patty repeated before a strangled laugh escaped her, "oh Nick... I really did miss you, you know."

"Then put down the knife," he offered, "we can go home."

"The Cabal is my home now, my family. You're nothing more than abnormal scum," she retorted bitterly but her grip on the knife became shaky, "why are you so determined to die? Damn you, why couldn't you have just seen the truth?"

"I already know the truth," he pointed out, "that the Cabal are wrong."

"Why are you making me do this?" she yelled angrily her eyes flicking tearfully back to a mirror image of his own blue ones while her grip on the knife became more unsteady , "why are you making me kill you? This isn't fair."

"It isn't supposed to be fair!" Nick yelled back, "life is not fair, life is never fair. Never! It's not fair that you died and I lived, it's not fair that the Cabal brainwashed you, it's not fair what the Cabal are doing to innocent people and abnormals alike, it's not fair that I'm dying, it's not fair. Nothing is ever fair!"

"He's right Patricia, its time to truly choose between them or us," a newcomer announced and a quick glance to the right revealed Dana Whitcomb had arrived and watching their exchange with interest, Patty looked pain as her eyes frantically darted between them before she finally spoke.

"Then I choose the Cabal," Patty announced in a whisper as tears rolled down her cheeks, "please forgive me."

"I forgive you," he whispered as the blade slid into his flesh.

* * *

Helen continued motioning the super soldiers past her, John had taken care of any visible resistance on the outside of the complex so all they had to do was move the seemingly endless numbers to safety. She was making sure they all made it out while John guided them away from the complex, she just hoped they'd be able to save them all.

_"Will managed to get into the city," her father's voice suddenly echoed in her mind, "with any luck he can save the others and give us a fighting chance against them."_

_"Good," came Nikola's weak reply._

_"What's up with you?" her father asked with a hint of irritation in his voice, "this is good news. And don't be jealous Will went, you're still vampiric DNA would be detected instantly so it would be pointless to send- you're bleeding."_

"What?" Helen was unable to stop herself from questioning despite knowing they couldn't hear her while passing super soldiers gave her confused looks, "err... carry on."

_"Was attacked while you were gone," Nikola answered bluntly but sounded in pain, "Helen is okay, she's okay Gregory."_

_"Nikola!" her father yelled, "hey, hey, hey come on none of that. Let me see... this looks bad."_

_"How very observant of you!" Nikola yelped, "I think one of the ribs punctured a lung, please stop touching it you'll make it wor- Son of a bitch! Have I ever told you how you suck at being a doctor? In case I haven't you suck at... at... every..."_

_"Keep breathing, come on," her father encouraged in a gentler tone, "I need to try to stop the bleeding so try concentrate on breathing rather than yelling at me."_

_"Breathing... hurts," Nikola whispered in a voice barely audible._

Helen swallowed worriedly and glanced up at the glass observation room where she could clearly make out Nikola standing there, very much alive and unhurt.

_"Hey come on genius, you haven't forgotten how to breath have you?" her father said jokingly but the quietness in his tone indicated seriousness, "you can't just leave a cripple to defend his comatose daughter, keep breathing Nikola. Don't give up."_

_"I'm sorry..." Nikola breathed before silence._

Helen scanned around solemnly to find all the super soldiers were now clear, she was standing alone suddenly feeling the chill of the icy night air. For the first time since she'd woken up in a world different to her own she began to wonder whether she wanted her memories to be real, or not.

"They're all clear then?" John asked reappearing in a literal flash of smoke, "what's wrong?"

"I think Nikola is dead," she told him solemnly to which he shot a confused look up at the glass observation room where both Big Guy and Nikola were still visible, "the one in my memories."

"Oh... I'm sorry?" John offered awkwardly, clearly unsure of what to say.

"Never mind, let's just carry on with saving these people," Helen announced shoving aside her concerns about reality, "let's hope no one else dies tonight."

* * *

Abruptly he felt the knife being hurriedly pulled from his chest and he fell to his knees gasping in pain before the wound rapidly repaired itself, he glanced at his twin in shock as she fell to her knees also and silently put the bloody knife back into his hands.

"I can't do it," Patty blurted out tearfully, "I can't... I'm sorry, he's my brother... My twin brother, I can't... Dana I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Nick muttered with a half smile, "I knew you weren't evil."

"I still believe in the Cabal," she bit back instantly, "I just can't kill you."

"I'm disappointed," Dana announced sounding somewhat dismayed and somewhat irritated, "very disappointed in you Patricia."

"Oh shut up," Nick snapped at her before an idea hit him and he reacted before he could stop himself.

The knife firmly in his grasp he launched himself in Dana's direction and drove the blade deep into her heart, time felt frozen for an instant as he looked at the shock and anger in the cold cavernous depths of her eyes. Whatever barrier to her thoughts that Patty had been protecting before burst and waves of repulsive anger she felt for abnormals, all abnormals his twin, crashed into their minds along with her insatiable lust for power and greed. She wasn't a good person, she never had been.

**_You've stopped nothing, the Cabal will continue until every last one of your despicable vermin kind are dead like you will soon be  
_**

"If I'm dying then I'm taking you with me," he snarled into her ear and yanked the blade back out as her now lifeless body tumbled to the ground along with what remained of his conscience, "what have I done?"

"You were right," Patty whispered breathlessly, "it was all a lie, she was... she was just using me. They all were... I can' believe it."

* * *

"What do we do now?" Big Guy asked rhetorically while Nikola snatched up the radio.

"Everything is fine," Nikola said into the receiver while the Sasquatch face palmed, "no need to worry."

"_You weren't sleeping on the job again were you?" _the voice over the radio demanded, "_Brauer, do you want to go back to performing your research on blind monkeys?"_

"No, I am very sorry," Nikola replied.

"I can't believe he's actually buying this," Big Guy grunted sounding amused.

"Neither can I," Nikola whispered with a satisfied smirk.

"_Well did you find the source of the noise?" _the voice asked sounding irritated.

"No, no, nothing here," Nikola improvised, "maybe she is just tired and hearing things?"

"_Probably but we still had to check," _the voice explained, "_now get back down here, we're making the final touches and then we can launch the EM shield. Any Sanctuary snoopers will be trapped, just like those blind monkeys. Am I right Brauer?"_

"Err yeah... ha ha," Nikola guessed feeling suddenly worried._  
_

"EM shield?" Big Guy hissed with panic, "we're screwed."

"Warn the others, now!" Nikola commanded.

"Do not teleport! Do not teleport anyone! John, Ashley do not teleport!" Big Guy half yelled down the radio, "do not teleport!"

_"And the EM shield is up and holding," _the voice announced sounding pleased, "_good work Brauer."_

"John? Ashley? Do you read?" Big Guy yelled, "Helen? Kate? Hello? Ashley? John? Somebody say something?"

"That can't be good," Nikola whispered.


	49. Not Goodbye

_Damn why do these chapters keep ending up longer than I intend? Btw is anyone still reading? Just wondering if anyone likes these longer chapters or prefers the shorter ones, not that it really matters. This story is so close to finishing, like you would not believe! ;) Since no one reviewed I'll thank anyone who has taken the time to fav or alert this as well as all of you amazing people for even bothering to read this, you guys are awesome :)  
_

* * *

"That should just about do it," Ashley commented brightly fixing the last of the C4 in position, they'd been teleporting around and placing them where they'd do the most damage structurally.

"Really think we've used enough to blow this mother?" Kate asked glancing lazily around for any sign of guards.

"I don't know, we could always go grab some more," Ashley pointed out, "think I saw an armory awhile back, they could definitely have some C4."

"You mean the armory you refused to let me search?" Kate retorted raising an eyebrow.

"We have to use stunners so the armor doesn't explode and blow us both up," Ashley informed her rolling her eyes.

"I know, I know," Kate complained before smiling, "you know I just thought of something."

"What?" Ashley questioned.

"Even if there is no C4 in that armory then we should be able to rig some of those things to explode," Kate explained excitedly, "I don't know a lot about how they work but I know enough, we may even be able to tie them in to detonate with the C4."

"I like the way you think sister," Ashley exclaimed giving her ally a high five before offering her hand to teleport them, "shall we?"

_"Do not teleport! Do not teleport anyone! John, Ashley do not teleport!"_ Big Guy's frantic voice came abruptly over the radio, "_do not teleport!"_

"What's up with the giant hairball?" Kate wondered aloud as Ashley curiously grabbed the radio.

"Err... care to explain why?" Ashley asked into the receiver, "what's happening?"

"_Joh... Ashl... Do... ou... re..._" came the garbled reply, "_...len... Ka...e... llo... shley... Jo...n... So... bod... say ...om...thi...g..._"

"Earth to wookieboy, English please," Kate complained.

"I think something's interfering with the signal," Ashley pointed out frowning worriedly, "that shouldn't be happening."

"Stop! Intruders!" a new voice yelled and they barely had time to turn their heads before they were hit by a blast of red energy.

"Damn stunners..." Kate muttered groggily drifting into unconsciousness followed a second later by Ashley.

* * *

Nick felt frozen for a moment, he could barely believe what he had done, killed Dana Whitcomb. He'd killed before obviously but only ever in self defense, not in cold blood, in the hope she'd die thinking evil thoughts. No matter how many times he thought of all the evil the Cabal had done, under her, and how many lives they'd either taken or ruined, it didn't stop the guilt from gnawing away at him. Was he really any better than them? She hadn't even been armed.

"I can't believe it was all lies," Patty began quietly and he spared a glance to see her kneeling beside Dana's body, "I really... I really thought that it was for the good of humanity, I can't believe I actually thought that."

"It's not your fault," Nick told her gently, "you were just a kid."

"Technically we are still kids, its not excuse," she snapped sharply, "the things I've done..."

"You can't worry about that right now," he told her firmly, "we have to get out of here."

"Give me a minute to take this in!" she complained, "this is life changing stuff Nick, everything I thought I knew was a warped lie the Cabal fed to me."

"I know," Nick sighed moving over to her as he shoved aside his own self-doubt, they were still on the clock, "but its not safe. We have got to keep moving."

"Why? It's not like-"

_"Do not teleport! Do not teleport anyone! John, Ashley do not teleport!"_ Big Guy's voice interrupted over the radio which Nick hastily scrambled to grab, "_do not teleport!"_

_"_What's happening?" Nick questioned with a scowl, silently cursing his lack of luck.

"_...hn... As... le... D... y... ea..._" Big Guy yelled, _"...el... n... Ka... e... lo... shle... J... n... me...od... ay... s... eth... ng..._"

"Something's screwing with the radio," Nick sighed rubbing his head, "just what we need."

"Gideon says the EM shield's active now, plus they have two intruders," Patty informed him of information he sensed she was being giving telepathically, "I assume they're two of yours."

"Probably, its highly doubtful another group of people decided to break into a top secret Cabal base at the exact same time as us," Nick muttered wishing his head would stop spinning.

"Gideon wants me to interrogate them, probe their minds," Patty explained.

"I'm shielding their minds," Nick told her.

"I'm not going to do it, I want to help you," Patty offered and he sensed her pang of guilt, "its the least I can do, I have a lot to make up."

"Join the club," Nick muttered bitterly thinking of a way to combat the situation, "okay I have a plan."

"Nick Magnus, always with the planning," Patty commented with a smile, "I missed that."

"If you tell me exactly where the prisoners are then I can go rescue them then find a way to deactivate the EM shield while you go wait with Dad and Biggie," Nick explained, "assuming they're not the ones captured."

"That sounds great but I have a better idea," Patty retorted, "I go rescue the prisoners and you deal with the EM shield, Gideon's expecting me anyway so all I have to do is say I want to talk to them alone and then we just leave."

"I don't know," Nick said after a minute.

"I'm not going to just sit on my hands and do nothing, clearly something is going down here and if you really want me to come home then you are going to have to let me help," Patty blurted out stubbornly folding her arms.

"And if Ashley is one of the prisoners?" Nick asked quietly, "will you still save her?"

"Of course," Patty stated but her skin went three shades paler, "like you said it wasn't really her fault, she's good now."

"Are you sure?" Nick asked worriedly, "she did technically... kill you."

"And Montague has technically killed you but you still helped him," Patty pointed out before swallowing nervously, "I can do this."

"Okay," Nick reluctantly agreed as he helped his twin to her feet, "be careful."

"Always," Patty replied brightly before abruptly throwing her arms around him, "and lighten up, this will work and we'll be back home stealing cookies again before you know it."

"I know it," Nick laughed slightly hugging her tightly back as his smile faded, "I missed you, I missed you so much."

"This isn't goodbye," Patty told him abruptly pulling away, "it isn't."

"Fine," Nick sighed, "get going then."

"Good luck," Patty called hurrying away, "lab's two floors below this one by the way!"

Nick sighed wishing he had the time to rejoice in the fact his twin was alive but lacked the time or the strength. His strength felt sapped and he still had to shut down the EM shield but not before checking in with the others, the only two he could telepathically talk to at least, assuming his uncooperative powers decided to work for once.

**_Mom? Biggie? Are you okay?_**

**_Me and Tesla are. We've lost contact with the others_**

**_The radios appear to be down- wow are we really having a three way telepathic communication?_**

**_Mom please focus, I can't keep this up for long_**

**_Sorry_**

**_The Cabal apparently have an EM shield, we figure that's what's interfering with the radios. Tesla and I were about to go see if we can shut it down_**

**_That explains a lot  
_**

**_No. You two stay there, I'll do it_**

**_Fine_**

**_Do we know if Kate and Ashley are okay?_**

**_Don't worry Mom, they're fine_**

**_Good_**

**_Have you either of you guys made progress?_**

**_Wow is this confusing! We've got the abnormals to the warehouse, well they're arriving now_**

**_Good, I'll check in with you guys soon. And you can turn off that machine by the way Biggie_**

**_Nick-_**

He let go, unable to hold the focus for any longer. Panting heavily he forced his eyes back open and weakly leaned back against the wall, his treacherous limbs suddenly shaking, the adrenaline was wearing just hoped like crazy that he could hold on long enough to shut off the EM shield, if not everyone was as doomed to die as he was. Determination gave him strength, he pressed onwards.**_  
_**


	50. Reunited We Stand

_Thanks so much to Melissaadams22 for reviewing! Glad you liked :)  
_

* * *

"That's all of them," John announced joining Helen at the warehouse entrance, "so what do we do now?"

"We can't just stay here," Helen snapped sharper than she intended, "I feel like all hell is coming loose and I can't just stand here and do nothing."

"I was actually going to suggest we go back," John pointed out, "these guys are fine by themselves and the guards should still be knocked out so we can sneak back in regardless of the EM shield."

"Oh," Helen muttered feeling slightly embarrassed for snapping at him, "sorry. Let's go then."

_The world suddenly shifted, everything twirled around her in a meshed blur of colors and then she was lying on the cold hard ground staring up at the roof of a cave. She sat up and glanced around hearing the sound of gunfire nearby, then a scream that sounded terrifyingly alike her father. Her eyes trailed to the left where she saw the man in question, clutching at his chest with an agonized expression on his face._

_"Father!" she cried scrambling over to him in panic, he fell back into her arms and his eyes flicked up to her with a smile forming on his lips._

_"Helen..." he sighed as his the life in his eyes faded away as he died._

_"Father," she repeated hopelessly feeling numb as she laid his head gently back down._

_Looking around she saw that she was doomed, behind her was a dead end and to her left and right nothing but solid rock while men were approaching from the front. Armed men. Armed men who had killed her father. It ignited a spark of anger that made her blood boil with fury, she scooped up the gun he'd been firing before his death and shot a few times catching them by surprise. If she was going to die then she might as well die fighting, she could feel the bullets shooting through her, each one a dart of white hot pain._

_The next second she was on the ground again, choking on blood she was coughing up from her lungs. She could hear the men approaching her, distant echos of voices heard them talking about confirming the targets were dead. Someone was standing over her, yelling to the others that she was still alive before pointing the gun directly to her head, a smirk on his face as he pulled the trigger._

Instantly she was back by the warehouse where the super soldiers were, she could hear they're frightened muttering while John was half holding her up. Blinking in her surroundings she took a minute to digest this newest development, her body lacked the bullet wounds she'd just sustained before her 'death' which logically meant that this was the real word and it had been all along, her memories were wrong.

"Helen? Are you alright?" John questioned looking concerned.

"Yes," she muttered slowly getting to her feet.

"Had another... other world experience?" John guessed correctly.

"The last," Helen informed him, "I died in the other world so this has to be the real one."

"Oh... that's good?" John muttered awkwardly unsure of how to react, "we can get back to destroying the Cabal now?"

"Yes, let's go," Helen confirmed focusing once more at the task at hand as she motioned for John to lead the way and they hurried on into the night.

* * *

"Oww," Kate groaned sitting up and Ashley glanced at her new found friend who opened one eye to glance around at their surroundings, "I hate stunners... and waking up to find myself handcuffed."

"At least we're alive," Ashley commented without enthusiasm.

"They probably just haven't figured out we're with the Sanctuary now," Kate informed her pessimistically, "once they do- and they probably will if vamp boy's twin is half as good at reading minds as he is- they will kill us. Sanctuary personnel aren't giving any chances."

"Well I can imagine how that will suck," Ashley muttered sighing in frustration as her cuffs refused to budge, "it might not be so bad, Nicky may be ignoring me but he's probably shielding are mines. Assuming he can still do either of those things."

"We could do that or we could figure a way out of here," Kate offered maneuvering herself so that her hands were in front of her, "argh, I'm getting too old for this."

"At least you don't look Freddy Krueger's date," Ashley pointed out with a sigh, "so do you have any idea on how to break out of a Cabal prison?"

"Plenty... but this isn't your typical Cabal prison cell, its one built to contain abnormals," Kate explained, "I haven't a clue."

"Peachy," Ashley muttered sarcastically before the door swung open to reveal her sister.

"Now its peachy," Kate hissed.

* * *

Nick swerved down a corridor to avoid another patrol, pressing himself against a wall to make himself as invisible as possible which had worked thus far but to his surprise they stopped. Their thoughts indicating that someone was informing them that Dana Whitcomb's body had been discovered, he barely had time to register this before the alarm sirens screeched into his ears and he had to literally bite his tongue to stop himself from yelping at the painfully high pitched noise, he could handle the flashes of red light but why did they have to have such a high pitched alarm?

He suppressed a frustrated sigh and patiently waited for them to move away with orders to search the floor where her body had been found for intruders, for him specifically and any other known associates of the Sanctuary. He closed his eyes quickly as another wave of dizziness threatened his ability to lean silently against the wall, time seemed to drag by before he sensed the patrol finally moving away.

He staggered away from the wall, forcing his exhausted eyes open to see the world was no longer spinning at least but he found himself shivering despite the warmth and yet again cursed his weakness as he continued back round the corridor which led up to the control room where the EM shield was being generated. Taking a deep breath he armed himself with the stunner before mentally seeking out a general number of people inside the room, at least three but less than five. Should be easy enough for him to handle, without another thought or hesitation he launched a kick at the door, forcing it open whereupon he instantly fired the stunner a few times and caught whoever was guarding the door.

"Brauer tell someone we're under attack!" a man in a lab coat screeched in deranged panic into a radio before Nick silenced him with a blast of the stunner and picked off the remaining few scientists dotted around and cowering in terror.

"Okay..." Nick muttered to himself holstering the gun and sensing no one conscious nearby but weary of incomers, they'd probably tuned their radios specially to avoid their specific EM shield and could only assume backup was coming which meant he should hurry.

He approached the main control failing to stop his body from shivering violently again he gripped onto it with his hands to hold his unhelpfully unsteady legs, he growled miserably buy shoved aside his concern and glanced at the control screen. Now all he had to do was hack into their encrypted system and figure out a way to deactivate one of their highly guarded systems.

* * *

"I wish to interrogate the prisoners by myself," Patty announced coolly flexing her vampiric claws to the few armed guards that had followed her in, "go and help the others search for the Sanctuary intruders. Now."

"Yes ma'am," one of them stated quickly inclining his head respectfully before leaving with the others.

"Excellent," Patty muttered brightly as she advanced on them.

"Look Patty I can understand why you would want to kill me or torture me or whatever you're planning to do because what I did was truly terrible and I am very, very sorry," Ashley babbled stumbling over her words as Patty dragged her into a standing position, "but I was infected by an energy elemental that was making me do awful things but Nicky removed it and I'm sane now and I know that sounds kinda crazy, in fact I didn't believe it myself at first but then-"

"Enough," Patty interjected rolling her eyes and snapping the handcuffs, "I'm on your side."

"Wh-wha-wow," Ashley said finally with a smile as she rubbed her wrists, "guess you talked to Nicky."

"Yes," Patty stated moving over to Kate and releasing her too, "to recap events for you, Dana Whitcomb is dead, the Cabal have an EM shield which Nick is disabling, you're supposed to take me to my father and Big Guy where we wait for the EM shield to be disabled and we can get out of here."

"Wow Dana's dead?" Kate gasped.

"Nick killed her," Patty informed them.

"That sounds.. well thought out," Ashley commented.

"Nick thought of that didn't he?" Kate guessed to which Patty nodded.

"So come on, lead the way," Patty complained shooing them towards the door, "someone is-"

"What are you doing?" a voice snapped darkly and the girls' eyes turned to the doorway where a man was now standing glaring at them furiously, she didn't know him personally but recognized him as President Gideon Whitcomb nonetheless.

"New interrogation tactic?" Patty lied badly before shoving Ashley violently against the wall, "tell me what you know!"

"I already heard most of the rest of your conversation!" Gideon spat bitterly, looking ready to start foaming from the mouth, "your brother murdered my mother and turned you evil!"

"That's one way of looking at it," Patty said slowly, "look I can explain, she was... not... as... good a person as I was led to believe, what the Cabal are doing is wrong... I don't want to hurt you."

"I can't believe this Patty!" Gideon screamed furiously, "how could you turn on us? After all we did for you? Pick a side sister and bloody well stay with it!"

**_The EM Shield is down, Ash its safe to teleport_**

"You're right," Patty announced firmly as Ashley took both her sister's and Kate's hands in preparation, "I choose Sanctuary!"

With that Ashley teleported them back in a flash of energy to where Big Guy and Nikola still waited, upon reappearing she saw both of their jaws literally dropped, presumably at seeing Patty alive again which quickly turned to looks of relief and joy.

"Hi," Patty greeted them both with a shy smile which was too much for Nikola who fainted, "oh father."


	51. Alone We Fall

_Argh! Another chapter that came out way longer than I expected! Don't worry, this story WILL end soon, I planned the ending from the beginning and I will get to it, next chapter will definitely probably be the last. Hope you like this chapter anyway, more of a filler and the bit with Gideon I must have written 5 times, literally. Thanks go to naiad8, Samsim, melissaadams22 for reviewing! :)  
_

* * *

Nick allowed himself a slight sigh of relief that he'd managed to shut down the EM shield, he was finding it ever harder to stay conscious let alone focused on a complex interface but he was close to completing his plan, so unbelievably close to destroying the Cabal once and for all that it gave him strength, it was just a terribly sad and cruel irony that he'd die with them.

**_Biggie are they there yet?_**

**_Yes, Ashley, Kate and Patty. Its a shame you missed your father fainting_**

**_I'm glad you find his pain so amusing. Tell Ashley to take you all home_**

**_What about you?_**

He hesitated slightly for a second, despite the necessity of it he still despised himself for having to lie to those who he was closest too, Biggie was one of the few people in the world he considered a friend, family really but he also knew he would never agree to leaving him.

**_John and Mom have returned, they're with me now and we're all set to rejoin you in a few minutes_**

**_Good, Ashley's teleporting Tesla and Kate back now. Patty says to not use your powers, it makes the poison work faster_**

**_I'll stop as soon as know all of you are safe and back at the Sanctuary_**

Nick broke off contact guiltily for a moment, shivering again as he rechecked the controls. He'd calibrated the EM shield to deflect rather than kill anyone who tried to teleport, once he reactivated it neither Ashley nor John would be able to be accidentally trap themselves inside the base with him.

**_We're back at the Sanctuary_**

**_Good_**

**_I'll see you in five then?_**

**_Yeah, see you in five_**

He let telepathic connection break away again, breathing out raggedly and strained, communicating over long distances was beyond exhausting. He reached out and flicked the switch to reactivate the EM shield, effectively sealing himself in. He failed to swallow the lump in his throat before another violent fit of shivering took him, whoever had said powers made the poison work faster appeared to be correct, not that he had much of a choice and in case John failed him or even if he did, Nick had rigged the auto self destruct to activate in time with the C4 charges. Nothing would remain of the Cabal.

**_Mom-_**

**_Don't worry, we're back in the base_**

He briefly lost the connection for a moment purely in shock, sure enough he sensed her nearby rather than out of range so to speak. Why did people have to be so concerned for his life when it interfered with his plan? His legs suddenly felt so weak he could no longer stand, his head ached but he forced himself to concentrate.**_  
_**

**_What? I told you to stay put!_**

**_I thought you just meant Big Guy_**

**_No I meant all of you! Everyone else is already back at the Sanctuary_**

**_Well tough, this is important and since this is the real world I really need to be a part of this_**

**_How do you know this world is real?_**

**_Because I died in the other one_**

**_That doesn't mean anything! I'll deactivate the EM shield again, tell John to teleport you both away from here and blow the bleeping thing up_**

**_What about you? We're not leaving you behind_**

"Dammit!" Nick screamed as much out of frustration as the pain in his head.

His skull felt like it was on fire, burning and burning and then more burning, so intense it brought tears to his eyes and then it dulled slightly, at least enough for him to even begin to think at least. His thoughts were so cluttered, he couldn't focus but what could he do to make them leave? They _had_ to be safe and he _had_ to stop the Cabal, he had to prove he deserved the name Nikola Gregory Magnus and he had to do it before he died. Of all the times to be dying!

Without warning a sharp pain jolted into his shoulder, like a bullet- it was a bullet. He flicked his gaze to the doorway and managed to turn to see Gideon Whitcomb standing there with the literal smoking gun in his hand. He could sense the intense anger and hatred directed at him, vengeance at the forefront of his mind, he snarled slightly at the man and tried to stand but failed miserably, his legs being as uncooperative as his powers, it was so frustrating it made him want to scream but he refrained from it as Gideon hauled him to his feet to look into his eyes.

He gazed into his ice cold eyes, sensing some of the same emotion as Dana, the same belief that abnormals were filth, less than animals, less than insects but more dangerous. He hated them with a passion that had been drilled into him since babyhood, he too honestly believed that humanity was superior in every way. But unlike his mother he believed himself above the rest of humanity as well, his lust for power was far greater than hers and he was infinitely more unhinged than her.

"Look at you now," Gideon sneered cruelly, "you can't even stand, pathetic."

"I'm a vampire, I don't need to stand to do this," Nick shot back growing his vampiric claws and stabbing him, the man gasped in pain as Nick positioned his claws around his ever so frantic and ever so fragile beating heart.

"Do it then you abnormal piece of filth," Gideon hissed glaring at him with searing hatred writhing in the depths of his amber eyes, "kill me like you killed my mother, you... monster!"

"I'm the monster?" Nick retorted angrily although he could feel Gideon's blood spilling from the wound and onto his hand, "do you even know how many innocent lives you've taken? You've destroyed? Abnormals _and_ humans. You don't keep track but I can see into your mind, into you memories, into your soul and I can see all the evil you've done and you don't even feel a single shred of guilt."

"Stay out of my head," Gideon growled.

"Just tell me once and for all," Nick asked forcing his mind to focus, "is there a cure for this poison?"

"Hmm... let me think," Gideon answered with a smug smirk that would make anyone want to punch him, "no. We help people not filthy mongrel garbage like yourself. Try a vet. No you were dead the moment that needle touched you, in fact you were dead the moment the needle touched your parents. That was stupid of them though, who in their right mind does that? Did they just get drunk or high and then say 'hey guys wouldn't it be smashing good fun if we inject ourselves with vampire blood? Wouldn't that be a laugh?'"

"Oh shut up," Nick snapped feeling the last shreds of hope for life die.

"You'd like that wouldn't you?" Gideon snarled darkly, "but you know killing me and my mother changes nothing, there's plenty of other Cabal. We've been around for centuries and you're what 16?"

"17," Nick retorted fighting off another wave of dizziness, "and the Cabal may survive without you but what about your army? This base? Before the sun rises this place is going to be nothing more than a crater of rubble."

"You lie," Gideon sneered.

"You wish," Nick replied with a slight smirk before pain shot through him, burning pain.

"It hurts to die, doesn't it?" Gideon questioned smirking, "dizziness, nausea, weakness, tiredness, shaking but when you get to the pain, that's when you know the end is near."

"It's nearer for you," Nick spat and with that he clenched his clawed fist, the nails slicing through Gideon's heart.

The man looked at him in shock, struggling to believe he was dying even as he drew his very last breath. With a final surge of strength he shoved Gideon's body as violently and and as forcefully as he could, throwing the corpse backwards onto the opposing wall where it fell limp and dead with shock still scrawled forever onto his face.

Feeling sick and weak Nick fell against the side of the main controls, scowling at his clawed crimson stained hands, the Whitcombs really brought out the worst in him. Tears fell from his eyes as his body shuddered and shivered against his will but he barely had the strength left to care, his senses were once numbed which for once he counted as a plus.

He forced a calming sigh finding it too hard to even keep his eyes open, he supposed it didn't matter as long as he was conscious enough to talk when Helen and John found him but he wasn't even sure if he could hold on that long, he could literally feel his life draining away like water falling through your fingers. He reached out weakly with his mind in search of his mom in case they didn't make it in time but instead he found the truth, maybe it was because he was on the verge of death or maybe it was because she was but either way the truth was his and if they didn't do something soon then she'd die, if he didn't do something. He did the only thing he could and hoped it was enough to at least buy her some time.

**_DON'T!_**


	52. The End

_Finally the ending! Okay I might do one more chapter as a kind of epilogue if anyone wishes but in case I don't thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, favorited or alerted this story, you guys are awesome and I hope you enjoyed it :)  
_

* * *

Helen raced after John as they sped through the corridors, their pace having increased after Nick had stopped responding to her attempts to communicate with him. They stunned their way through any resistance until finally making it to the main control room where she hoped he was because otherwise it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack, the base was massive and she assumed it still wasn't safe to teleport.

She surveyed the room quickly, noticing the corpse of a man bearing an eerily remarkable resemblance to Dana Whitcomb and opposite him, curled up beside the man controls was Nick. She ran to him immediately checking for a pulse and thankfully finding one, it was extremely weak and thready but it was a pulse, it was something.

"We're trapped in here unless we can get the EM shield down," John announced worriedly, "and I have absolutely no idea how to do it, never been the best at hacking."

"Nick?" Helen questioned deciding to ignore that for now as she gently shook his shoulder, "Nick? Can you hear me?"

"Mommy I'm tired, I need to sleep now," he muttered in reply.

"You can sleep when you're dead," she told him recalling him saying it earlier, his eyes flicked open at any rate and glanced at her, "hey."

"Hey," he breathed weakly and she felt a lump in her throat, she doubted he had long left, "you were wrong."

"You'll have to be more specific," Helen informed him with a forced smile.

"This isn't the real world," Nick announced weakly.

"I died in the other one, this has to be it," Helen explained impatiently, "now come on, how do we get the EM shield down? We have to get you back to the Sanctuary."

"No," Nick moaned, "Mom... Do you remember how I said it was like you died in your sleep?"

"Err... yeah," she muttered feeling as confused as John looked.

"Its because your consciousness left," Nick explained flicking his eyes back to her, "went to the other world, you've been flicking between the two. Its a trap designed to confuse you, keep your mind occupied long enough for your body to die."

"Nick what are you talking about?" she questioned wondering if the poison was making him delirious.

"You're in the Sanctuary," Nick told her firmly, "you've been on life support the last few days but because your consciousness is not there they think that you are brain dead, they're going to pull the plug any minute now and without your mind, your body will die."

"I think the poison is messing with your head," Helen offered gently stroking his hair.

"No!" he yelped and winced again, "you have to believe me, I tried telling them to stop but they'll not wait forever. The worlds were not meant to hold your consciousness for this long, that's why they're falling apart, why you died in the other one and if you don't wake up before they switch off your life support then you'll be dead for real."

"This is crazy, we need to get out of here," John complained.

"This way!" someone yelled and a glance at the door confirmed security had found them, John darted to the door and closed it quickly before locking it.

"That won't hold them for long," John sighed exchanging a worried glance with her, "we have to leave. Now."

"No," Nick said firmly, "Mom I tried talking to them telepathically but even if I did then it won't stop them for long, if you don't believe me then you'll die. You asked me to search your memories, they're what's real. Neither of these worlds are, you have to believe me."

"You're sure about this?" Helen asked quietly beginning to believe the sincerity in his voice.

"Never been more sure about anything in my non-existent life," Nick told her with a weak smile.

"Am I the only one worried about the fact we're about to be overrun by Cabal?" John questioned sounding slightly irritated.

"Stay here," Nick offered, "when the base blows it can take you with it, you'll be vaporized instantly and it should send you back to reality... I'll stay with you so you won't be alone."

"Okay," Helen agreed returning his weak smile.

"John give me the detonator, I'll tell you how to deactivate the EM shield," Nick said reaching out his hand shakily.

"What if you're wrong?" John asked quietly.

"Then make sure the super soldiers are okay for us," Nick whispered weakly flexing his fingers, "now please."

"John," Helen pleaded looking up at him desperately.

"Alright," John sighed heavily but handed over the detonator just as the door burst open, "I'll lead them away, do not wait for me to return."

"John!" Helen protested but he was already charging away with the main control appearing to have hidden her and Nick from them.

"John says he loves you," Nick told her and she glanced back to see his eyes had fallen shut again but he still seemed conscious, "regardless of whether he's real or not."

"I know," she sighed sitting beside her son, "I'm sorry. That I didn't have the chance to get to know you better, I would have liked that."

"I'm not even real," Nick pointed out opening his blue eyes briefly.

"You're real to me," she said firmly placing her arm around him and his head fell weakly onto her shoulder, "that's all that matters, maybe one day you'll exist back in the real world."

"Dad isn't a vampire in your world," Nick muttered, "so I can never exist."

"I'm proud of you, proud that you're my son," Helen told him gently.

"Really?" Nick questioned suddenly sounding like a little kid.

"Yeah," Helen confirmed tearfully, "I'm going to miss you."

"I love you Mom," Nick whispered, "and try not to feel bad, for a non-existent life I did okay and we sort of stopped the Cabal, didn't we?"

"We did," she murmured.

"In case any of this is based on reality, some names you should know of Cabal who may pose a danger later on even though the Cabal is disbanded," Nick announced, "Ha-"

"There's more than life to work you know," she interrupted.

"Maybe for normal people," Nick replied, "but not for us, not for me and not for you."

"Well..." Helen began but trailed off as she realized he was actually right.

"Gideon Whitcomb, Hans Brauer, Ellison Mitchell, Richard Clarke, Daphne Johnson, Abby Corigan and Dennis Sampson," Nick told her weakly, "will you remember those names?"

"I'll remember them," she promised already thinking a few sounded familiar as Nick flipped open the side switch and rested his finger on the button.

"What if I am wrong?" Nick whispered sounding suddenly afraid, "there's no going back once I press this."

"I believe in you," Helen told him firmly gently holding his hand that held the detonator, "just try to think of something else."

"Do... Do you think I made it till sunrise?" he asked in scarcely more than a whisper.

"Of course," she told him, almost certain it wasn't true but didn't have the heart to tell him that and she had no way of telling anyway as the room was windowless and the only light was flashes of red.

"Can... Can you... can you see it?" Nick struggled to ask.

"Yes," she whispered closing her eyes to try to picture the image, the brilliantly bright rays of sunlight skimming across the sky and casting dancing colors as far as the eye can see, she smiled at the image, "it's so beautiful."

A slight beep was all that indicated that the detonation had been activated.

_**Goodbye**_

Then there was nothing.


	53. Epilogue: Reawakening

_ Special thanks to Alana and Brie, naiad8, athannah and melissaadams22 for reviewing the last chapter :) Okay this really is the end of the story, the epilogue. However I am considering doing a sequel that deals with the people who did this to Helen if anyone is interested, working title is "Reliquum" but I am undecided so if I don't go through with it but I hope you like the epilogue regardless :) Thanks for reading everyone!  
_

* * *

"Are we ready?" Big Guy asked glancing at the others; Will, Kate, Henry plus Tesla who remained uneasily in the doorway.

"Yeah," Will whispered nodding sadly.

"Okay," Biggie muttered giving one last desperate look at Helen, partially buried beneath the tangled throng of tubes and wires.

As much as he hated what they were doing, leaving her like that forever was just cruel. Her brain activity was beyond dead, his friend was already long gone leaving behind an empty shell. She deserved better, he wished he could have done something more, as did they all. He forced a calming breath and shuffled towards the machine forcing her heart to beat, reached out and put his hand over the plug.

"Wait!" Tesla yelped and he frustratedly turned back to look at him.

"Nikola, how many times to we have to go through this?" Will asked tiredly, "we all know Magnus, we all know she wouldn't want to live like this. It's not even like she's in a coma, her brain is-"

"Yes but if you just wait until I can think of something-" Tesla began desperately.

"Think of what?" Henry interjected solemnly, "she's already gone, genius."

"But there has to be a way to-"

"If you don't want to be here than go, no one's stopping you," Kate snapped, "this is hard enough without your desperate begging so either go now or shut the hell up."

He tried and failed not to glare at the ex-vampire as he moved his hand back to the plug, taking a deep breath as he cast one last glance at his friend.

"Goodbye Helen," he whispered tearfully.

**_DON'T!_**

Big Guy lurched violently back from the plug as the words screamed desperately inside his mind, he gulped down some panicked breaths as the words continued to echo inside his skull. He blinked a few times repeatedly trying to shake off whatever had just happened, it wasn't like any telepathy he'd encountered before nor did it feel like Helen who had spoken. However he had never been more certain of anything: they shouldn't proceed.

"What?" Will questioned and he glanced back at their puzzled faces save Nikola who was staring at Helen as if unaware of anything else.

"Something is wrong," he growled under his breath, "we can't do this."

* * *

Helen gasped and shot upright, slightly panicked as she greedily gulped down air. Her mind felt so numb for a minute she struggled to think before she realized people were saying her name, she flicked her gaze around and saw her team, all four of them alive and young again.

"I think it worked," Helen muttered with a half smile, "he was right."

"What the-"

"Magnus?"

"Magnus, are you okay?" Will questioned with evident relief in his voice.

"As long as this is real," Helen replied glancing around to see she was in the infirmary.

"Magnus this is amazing!" Henry exclaimed, "we thought you were a goner."

"Its a miracle!" Kate added excitedly.

"It is good to be back," Helen agreed with a slight smile that wavered as she thought of Nick.

"Nikola!" Big Guy called and she realized he was standing watching her from the doorway, looking unusually disheveled and with a black eye, "she's alive."

"What's your name and date of birth?" Nikola asked of her suspiciously.

"My name is Helen Magnus," she answered firmly, "and I was born August 27th 1850, in London. I'm me Nikola."

"Good," he said sighing with relief.

"What happened to your eye?" she asked curiously.

"Don't ask," Nikola and Will said in unison.

"Okay..." she muttered glancing between the two, "can you at least tell me what happened to me?"

"You don't know?" Henry wondered frowning, "we were hoping you could tell us."

"Last thing I remember before the other world was being Hollow Earth," she explained.

"You got back from Hollow Earth last week," Big Guy grunted.

"What other world?" Kate questioned scowling, "your brain was... dead or something."

"I was... I'll tell you later," Helen replied changing her mind about telling them about it, at least for now, "so how did I end up comatose?"

"We were on a mission," Will told her, "then we lost contact with you, we searched for you and found you unconscious with a head injury... We were lucky to get you on life support when we did but it was too late, or so we thought anyway. Magnus I swear we would never have... pulled the plug if we thought there was any chance-"

"I thought there was a chance," Nikola pointed out testily.

"It's fine Will," Helen interjected glancing at the plug connecting her to the life support, "I'm glad you did, if I really was brain dead than its what I would want and besides if Nick hadn't been so sure I was in danger of imminent death I might not have gone along with it... He said it was a trap someone had designed to kill me, you have no idea who did this to me?"

"I'm sorry Magnus," Will sighed, "we don't have a clue."

"Who's Nick?" Kate

"He was..." she began but trailed off sadly, "I'm tried, I think I'll rest for a bit and then you can fill me in on everything I missed in the morning."

"Okay," Will agreed with a smirk, "but rest well because you have so much paperwork to catch up on."

"I'll look forward to it," she half laughed.

"It's good to have you back Magnus," Henry added as they began shuffling towards the exit.

"Real good," Big Guy grunted in agreement.

"We missed you," Kate commented before quickly hugging her and following the others out save Nikola who was still watching her, silently studying her for what felt like hours before she finally spoke up.

"Yes?"

"I-I... I just... I'm glad you're okay Helen," he whispered worriedly, "sleep well."

"Nikola-" she began but he'd already darted away, "never mind."

* * *

"You're telling me that after all that money I so graciously gave, you still failed to kill Helen Magnus?" he complained with a sneer on his lips as leaned across the table to glare at the terrified scientist.

"Unfortunately she did survive," the scientist replied nervously straightening his tie, "we are not sure how but we are pretty sure she still knows nothing of us."

"Look at me," the man commanded darkly, "do I look like I give a damn about your infinitely pathetic excuses for failure? Do I?"

"Err... well no, no you don't," the scientist babbled shifting uncomfortably.

"Has anyone ever told you what happens to those who failed me?" the man asked threateningly.

"I didn't fail!" the scientist shrieked in panic.

"My inside source at the Sanctuary says she lives," the man pointed out.

"The other half of the mission was a success!" the scientist protested, "and because of her survival we even gleamed more information than we had originally calculated. She is alive but we can use this to our advantage, they still have no idea we exist."

"Hmm..." the man mused thoughtfully, "still not really a good enough reason for you to live."

"No one knows this project better than me, you'll waste time reading someone into the project and the technology rather than letting me continue on with it," the scientist told him pleadingly, "there is so much more I can still do, the poison I've been working on looks promising... please don't kill me!"

"You begging is like sandpaper to my ears," the man complained and the scientist visibly shrank back into the chair, "however I will give you one more chance. One. But if you fail me again... I'll ensure you die a death more slowly and agonizing than you can possibly imagine. Is that understood Brauer?"

"Yes," Brauer confirmed swallowing nervously, "I understand."

"Then get back to work," the man commanded watching as the scientist scampered from the room, "you may have won the battle Magnus, but you have not won the war."

* * *

Helen sat at her desk shuffling through papers, having finally caught up on all the paperwork she'd missed from her few days of unconsciousness. Not that she minded, she'd never been happier to do such a menial task in all her life, nothing said reality and normalcy like paperwork. She had become sure that this was reality, her memories matched up to current events and when she slept she actually slept rather than waking up in some kind of alternate reality.

Not that she had come out unscathed, aside from a renewed sense of loss for Ashley she also felt Nick's death weighing heavily on her mind. She knew it sounded strange to mourn someone who may not have been alive, it was why she hadn't told anyone, but it didn't make her miss him any less or stop her from expecting his voice to appear in her mind at any moment or to see him perched on the parapets whenever it rained.

Nikola had left not long after she'd recovered, after he'd gotten over his delight at her being alive he was still upset at being left out when they went to Hollow Earth. She planned to make it up somehow, while she wasn't sure how she felt about him considering recent events she definitely did not intend for them to become estranged again. She'd give him a few months alone, her fingers were even crossed in hope for him to regain his vampirism and then maybe offer him a chance to see a Praxian stronghold, which should abate his abandonment issues.

She sighed tiredly and finished stacking the papers, she still had no idea who was behind what had happened to her which made her even more uneasy than Adam's uncertain fate -which she would be briefing the other house heads about in a few days.

Only time would tell whether they would make another attempt on her life but for now life was more or less back to normal, or about as normal as things ever got in the Sanctuary -which wasn't very.


End file.
